


The Abandoned House

by echo_abendrot



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Action/Adventure, Blood and Injury, Gen, Injury, Major injuries, Minor Injuries, Multiple Pov, Team Bonding, abandoned house, definitely not horror, i guess it counts as action/adventure why not, it's a mess really, just adventure and angst i guess, karasuno boys having an adventure
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-08
Updated: 2015-04-24
Packaged: 2018-03-10 14:48:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 53,108
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3294356
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/echo_abendrot/pseuds/echo_abendrot
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Those clever Karasuno boys decide to explore an old, abandoned house. They end up scattered around this old house as it crumbles around them, sealing exits and destroying rooms, and faced with the challenge of <i>how the hell do we get out?!</i><br/>Several POVs, since they do that thing you should never do in these situations: split up.<br/></p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Saturday Morning

**Author's Note:**

> I really enjoyed writing this! Hope you enjoy, please let me know what you think! :)

‘I thought you had the key.’

‘I swear you said you had it.’

‘Why would I say that?’

‘Because-'

'So, to clarify,’ cut in Asahi. 'Neither of you has a key?’

'No!’ said Suga and Daichi in unison.

The group groaned.

It was late Saturday morning, the whole team waiting, yawning, outside the gymnasium. They’d arranged to have extra practice over the weekend, despite Coach Ukai being absent with family business out of town. Takeda had promised they could have access on Saturday but now it seems he was absent too, and had forgot to pass on the gymnasium keys to any of the twelve boys who had made the effort of crawling out of bed that morning.

'So what now?’ asked Noya, frowning. Hinata and Kageyama stood close next to him, the latter holding the volleyball in his hand so tightly his fingertips were making visible indents in its skin. Behind them, Tanaka yawned loudly.

Daichi sighed and folded his arms. ‘Looks like the gym is unavailable. I suppose we could just practice outside somewhere, though?’

‘Or we could go home and sleep?’ suggested Ennoshita.

‘I like that option,' muttered Tsukki.

Suga yawned. ‘I could do with stopping by the library, actually.’

'So we’re not having practice today?’ asked Hinata as everyone started off in different directions. It seemed to him that a break in their routine, one day where he didn’t get to play volleyball with the team, was a brand new concept, and he didn’t approve.

‘Don’t worry, Shouyou! We’ll find somewhere to practice!’ said Noya, slapping Kageyama on the back as he spoke. ‘Right, guys?’ He turned to see only Tanaka and Asahi waiting still. Ennoshita and the other second years were already turning the corner out of sight. Tsukishima and Yamaguchi weren’t far behind them, Tsukki’s headphones already in position to block out the shouts he expected from his loud, commanding upperclassman. Suga was off, too, in the opposite direction, with Daichi trailing behind, looking torn between following to the library or being a harsher captain and forcing the boys to at least practice a little.

He didn’t, in the end. It was just the five of them - Noya, Hinata, Kageyama, Asahi and a sleepy Tanaka - sharing one volleyball in the field behind the school. From the library Daichi could see them flailing around, but there was no point watching them when he had to study.

On the ground, it wasn’t very effective.

‘How much longer will we be doing this?’ asked Asahi. Hinata had accidentally sent the ball flying again, and Kageyama was in the middle of yelling at him, again.

Even Noya looked bored now, and they’d only been out there half an hour. Tanaka had woken up a little and was back on the field, preparing to break up another fight between the first years if need be.

Noya’s eyes widened suddenly, and a grin broke out across his face. ‘I know what we could do instead,’ he sang.

Asahi looked to him out of the corner of his eyes, wary. ‘…What?'

‘Hey, Ryuu!’ Noya yelled, jumping over to the three on the field. Asahi followed behind, arms still folded sceptically. ‘Ryuu, remember that thing I told you about the other day?’

Tanaka squinted, thinking back over a hundred possible things Noya could have mentioned. Some that popped into his head seemed so bizarre he wasn’t sure if he’d dreamt them or the words had actually come from Noya’s mouth. ‘…Er, yeah?’

’The abandoned house, Ryuu!’ Noya said in a hushed tone, which wasn’t needed when the five of them were stood so close together in an empty field.

‘What about it?’

‘We should go investigate, like we said!’

‘Abandoned house?’ asked Hinata, eyes wide and bright. ‘Like a _haunted_ house?'

‘Dumbass,’ muttered Kageyama. ’There’s no such thing.’

‘Correct, Shouyou!’ said Noya, ignoring Kageyama entirely and wrapping an arm around Hinata’s neck. ‘It’s amazing. I came past it last week but didn’t have time to investigate properly. There’s a gap in the fence around the back where you can get into the garden easy!’

‘You can’t be serious…’ Asahi sighed, but it seemed Noya was totally serious, and the other three were all fascinated already.

‘Is it in ruins?'

‘Are there ghosts?!'

'How far away is it?'

Noya looked pleased with himself.

The house was nearby, hidden behind trees and an old, abandoned factory, which students of the school already told horror stories about. Nobody, to Noya’s knowledge, knew of the hidden treasure behind it - a grey, gothic house in the middle of a huge, gated garden. Now he could investigate with the others.

‘I sent everyone else the address,’ Noya declared as he pushed past the broken bars, emerging under a tangle of overgrown branches and plants, keeping the sharp barbs away with his jacket sleeve pulled up to his hand. ‘In case they want to join us!’

’They probably won’t bother,’ said Kageyama, pushing away a prickly branch that Noya swatted backward.

The ground was uneven; cracked and littered with fallen leaves and rubbish, which made the short trip from the black iron fence to the open air a lot more awkward. Tanaka, Hinata and Kageyama emerged with a few minor scratches from thorns, but Noya had twigs and strings of spiderwebs in his hair, and long strands of Asahi’s hair had been dragged loose by the branches.

‘Wow!’ breathed Hinata upon seeing the abandoned house - which he kept referring to as _haunted_. It was a spectacular disaster; three storeys of worn paint and shattered windows, as wide as the gymnasium. This was the back of the house, where a patio area was still somewhat recognisable - ornate metal furniture, white paint peeled away, allowing rust to settle beneath, sat on a square of chessboard tiles, with tall columns guarding each corner. To the left of the patio area, litter lined a path to the house like flowerbeds; brash colours of food wrappers amongst the shining cans and glittering glass shards. An actual flowerbed, long dead, flanked an old greenhouse on the far left, one now grey with dust and smashed in several places. It seemed more damaged than the house, which had little obvious damage to it, but gave the overall suggestion that it would collapse if you stepped in the wrong spot. If the wind blew too strongly, the house might sway.

‘OK,’ beamed Noya, eyes sparkling with excitement. ‘Who’s going in first?’

‘It was your idea, so…’ said Tanaka, holding out his hand in an _after you_ gesture.

‘Me?! Why don’t you go in first? Has Hinata’s talk of haunted houses scared you?’

Tanaka puffed out his chest. ‘Course not! I just… er… think Asahi had better lead the way,’ he babbled. ‘He’s the biggest.’

‘Yeah, he can scare away any monsters!’ said Hinata, nodding like mad.

’Thanks…’ muttered Asahi. ‘If only Kiyoko could see you now.’

Tanaka and Noya straightened up like they’d been shocked. Asahi knew what he was doing, mentioning Kiyoko, knowing it’d get a reaction from her two biggest fans. They exchanged a look and gulped, torn between wanting to look brave for their beloved Kiyoko, or entering the rickety old house.

Their attention was taken away by Kageyama shouting then. ‘Hey - what are you - _HEY_!’

There was a crash, and then Kageyama held Hinata’s bright hair in his hands, pulling tight in opposite directions. ‘ _What did you do that for_?’ he hissed.

'Now we - OUCH - _need_ to go inside,’ Hinata said with difficulty. Asahi, Tanaka and Noya looked toward the house where, on the second storey, a window had been freshly smashed by the volleyball Hinata had snuck from Kageyama. ‘You’re not scared, Kageyama,’ muttered Hinata, once Kageyama had been persuaded to let go of his hair. Asahi stood between them. ‘You can go inside and get it, right? We’ll come with you if you go first.’

Noya and Tanaka brightened and looked to Kageyama with pleading grins, and Kageyama looked away. He caught Asahi’s eye, but he simply shrugged. Kageyama huffed and, after a silent minute, he turned and walked up the path, ignoring the eerie feeling he got from being closer to the old house.

He could feel the others walking close behind him, feel someone’s breathing on his back, and it was all he could do to stop himself from turning around and yelling - he didn’t want to be accused of being scared; he _wasn’t_ scared, just… wary, cautious. The back door already being open a crack didn’t help the spooky feeling he was getting.

He recalled hundreds of images of creepy houses, old warehouses or flats that had been broken into, all with doors slightly ajar that creaked as they were pushed gently - as this one did - leading to a dark, mysterious world full of screams and blood.

It was actually light inside when Kageyama opened the door. The windows were large and let in a lot of the late morning light, which still managed to burst through the canopy of trees. All in all, it wasn’t as scary as Hinata had been making out; there was plenty of light, no spooky shadows, and what old house doesn’t creak when you walk?

The first room was long, a dining room, with a long mahogany table in the centre and a large cabinet on its face on the far left, crockery smashed to pieces around it. The table still had a cloth on it, dusty and smeared with dirt. Kageyama stepped forward, the others close behind stepping with him, and he placed a hand on the closest chair. Tiny clouds of dust jumped up at his touch. He watched it settle again, silently, barely breathing.

‘Well,’ said Tanaka loudly, making Kageyama jump. His hand shook the chair as he jumped, the noise it made on the floorboards masking any yelps that might have escaped. Asahi had jumped half a metre away from the others, leaning on another chair. Noya was clutching at his chest, a hand on Tanaka’s shoulder, and Hinata was squashed close beside them, part of Kageyama’s jacket held tightly in his grasp. Kageyama quickly shook him off. ‘I don’t see what you were all so scared of,’ Tanaka said, hands on his hips, bravely walking around the table to the right. He leant to the side, getting a better view through the door leading to the next room. 'Reckon it’s time to explore,' he grinned, eyes flashing with excitement.

Noya and Hinata were all for that. Noya whooped and raced off after Tanaka, who bolted into the next room without a care for what lay beyond. The floor creaked around them, and the next room had less light, but there was nothing vaguely terrifying about the place.

Asahi looked around at Kageyama, then decided he’d better follow the others, who could already be heard across the building, screaming and shouting.

Hinata turned to Kageyama, ‘Well? Come on! Race ya! First one to find the volleyball wins!’

He sprinted off and, as is natural now, Kageyama was hot on his heels.


	2. Splitting Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys explore further, having split up across the floors of the old house. Here's where the multiple POVs start up so I hope it's easy to follow!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter split between POVs - first there's Asahi/Noya/Tanaka, then Hinata/Kags, then Suga/Daichi, then back to Asahi/Noya/Tanaka.
> 
> Blood and injuries in the Hinata/Kags section (minor cuts, not a lot of blood) If you wanna skip, ctrl+f to 'he supposed' after Kags says 'y-you're'  
> Hopefully the other chapters won't all be so long, but here's the starting lines of each POV section, if you want to jump quickly - ctrl+F to:  
> 2\. H/K: How Hinata  
> 3\. S/D: So that's  
> 4\. A/N/T: Like tectonic

From the dining room they travelled through a hallway, passing several dark rooms and landing themselves in the foyer at the front of the house; a large, open space, with a staircase winding upwards and a balcony on the next floor up. The front door was large and dark, the glass thick with dust.

Hinata and Kageyama whizzed through the house, sending dust clouds in every direction. They flew up the stairs, both easily avoiding the broken step at the second corner.

Asahi watched them run, listening to how the house creaked. It wasn’t sturdy in the slightest. A cough might dislodge a stair railing; a sneeze might smash a window. But the first years disappeared in one direction, their shouts echoing down the hall.

Noya and Tanaka were making enough noise on the bottom floor still. Given how nervous they had been minutes ago, it was bizarre seeing them jumping around like kids at a theme park.

‘Noya, come look at this!’ called Tanaka from a room on the right. Noya had been clearing a circle on the front window to see through, but shot off to Tanaka as soon as he called. Asahi sighed and walked over to the window, which was still a little murky, but Noya had cleared enough of a gap to see through. The front garden was as overgrown as the back. The large iron gate at the very far end was only visible from the spikes extending above the rest of the fence; the vines and bushes had grown so long and tangled that they completely obscured the fence from the ground up. It was hard to tell, but Asahi thought it looked like tree roots had broken away from the grass and started growing through the grooves between the bricks of the large path, like the trees were snaking closer to the house, reaching out with their long roots.

Even in daylight, Asahi thought, this place was creepy.

As if on cue, a loud noise sent a shock down Asahi’s spine. _Bang bang BANG_. Asahi froze, listening further. A second time it came; loud, tinkling bangs, but this time his ears were alert enough to pick up something else - laughter. Not creepy laughter, _Tanaka_ laughter.

Only when his feet finally started moving and he reached the doorway of the next room did Asahi realise what the noise was – a _piano_. A terrifyingly out-of-tune piano, and one which Noya was currently bashing his hands against, producing the awful noise. Asahi cringed and resisted the urge to cover his ears, astonished that Noya could withstand it and that Tanaka was stood beside him, smiling and swaying and pretending like it was the most beautiful tune he’d ever heard.

‘Asahi, come take our picture!’ Noya called. He held out his phone as Tanaka jumped on top of the dusty upright piano, posing with his head propped up on one hand, the other on his hip. Noya sat back and held his hands out dramatically over the keys.

Asahi couldn’t help but laugh as he took the picture. The house still creaked, and dust still fell from the ceiling, but it wasn’t scary any more with these two making it fun.

‘I’ll send this to the others!’ declared Noya, quickly typing out a message attached to the photograph.

‘Which way did Hinata and Kageyama go?’ asked Tanaka, wandering back into the foyer.

‘Next floor up,’ said Asahi. ‘They’re after the volleyball, remember?’

‘So there’s another floor undiscovered?’ Tanaka said, eyes bright again. He bolted up the stairs, Asahi just a few steps behind this time, and they both stopped on the balcony, looking around for the next set of stairs. Asahi looked down the corridor Hinata and Kageyama had disappeared down, but saw and heard nothing. When he turned back to Tanaka, he had gone too.

A body zoomed past Asahi as he turned, and after his heart nearly jumped back down the stairs he realised that it was just Noya, running after Tanaka. Asahi followed at a jog, not wanting to lose them too in this old house – Hinata and Kageyama were probably fine, he told himself.

 

* * *

 

 

How Hinata could twist and turn so quickly and without hesitation was a mystery to Kageyama. Sure, on the court he reacted on instinct, and it always worked out well for them, but this old house was totally different. How could Hinata locate the volleyball in a foreign place on _instinct_? If that kid could _sense_ a volleyball, that’s just beyond creepy.

Still, Kageyama had to beat him. He’d caught up but Hinata was still a step in front, leading the way. Hinata stopped in front of one room, glanced around for half a second, and sprinted off again down the corridor, curving into the next room with certainty.

He dove forward as Kageyama reached the doorway, so Kageyama dove too, landing on his front at the side of Hinata.

‘ _Ouch_!’ they both complained. Kageyama’s breath had been taken from him, and his vision was blurry for a moment, but one thing was clear: Hinata had won. With a loud _whoop_ he held aloft the volleyball, cheering for his victory.

‘That’s–’ he began, about to rattle off their current score.

‘ _Shut up_ ,’ Kageyama scolded, his ears ringing. He rolled onto his left side, blinking spots from his vision and flinching at his bruised chest. He looked to Hinata above him, kneeling where he’d fallen, still holding up his prize and grinning. ‘Y-you’re…’ Kageyama stuttered, watching a scarlet drop fall, almost in slow motion, to the wooden floor by his arm. ‘You’re bleeding,’ he said.

‘Huh?’ said Hinata, only now noticing his arms were dripping red.

Kageyama sat up quickly, snatching Hinata’s closest arm and examining the cuts. There were two on this arm, one gash on the bottom of his left palm, and a shard of glass stuck into the flesh on the underside of his forearm, both with a steady stream of blood oozing from the wounds. Hinata dropped the ball held in his other hand so he could examine his other arm, but Kageyama snatched that too. There were several slices along the side of his right arm and a smaller piece of glass in one of his fingers.

‘Hey, you’re bleeding too,’ said Hinata, quite calmly. Kageyama had a piece of glass stuck in his own left arm, on the side where he’d hit the floor with a lot of force. He hadn’t thought anything of the pain that’d shot through him when he moved earlier.

‘Don’t!’ Hinata yelled when Kageyama went to pull the shard from his arm. ‘It might have hit an artery, or something!’ he said, recalling scenes from the television in which blood had actually squirted from wounds when an artery was hit.

‘I wasn’t going to, idiot,’ Kageyama snapped. He was, though. Aware of the injury now, it hurt to move his arm. His wasn’t bleeding as much as Hinata’s, however, so Hinata was priority.

The room they’d landed in was a bedroom. The wallpaper was faded and peeling off in several places. Behind the door was a large wardrobe, one door ajar, and a small desk by the window had been knocked over. Had it not been, the glass would have probably fallen on top and the boys wouldn’t have hurt themselves so badly.

The quilt on the single bed had been half dragged off. Kageyama pulled it further and grabbed at the sheet underneath, tearing it loose.

‘Here,’ said Hinata, who’d shuffled over to the base of the bed. He gestured to a piece of glass he’d grasped in hands between the quilt cover, offering he help Kageyama make dressings. Hinata made small cuts in the sheet and Kageyama pulled, tearing off several strips of the fabric in a few minutes.

‘Thanks,’ Kageyama muttered, sitting back against the bed with one strip ready. The blood was already dripping from his elbow and onto his black pants. 

‘Need help?’ asked Hinata.

‘No,’ Kageyama replied quickly. It was just a cut, it wouldn’t be too bad. With one hand, he draped the fabric over his arm and quickly pulled the glass shard away, frantically wrapping the bandage around several times to stop the bleeding. With his teeth, he tore at the end of the fabric, splitting it in two.

Hinata jumped in here, taking the two strips and pulling them in opposite directions around Kageyama’s arm, tying them together on the other side in a secure knot. 

‘Thanks,’ said Kageyama again. He shuffled and grunted for Hinata’s arm, and began working on his injuries too. He debated calling for their teammates outside, but he couldn’t even hear them anymore.

Hinata winced at the first shard Kageyama pulled out, the small one on his finger. Silently Kageyama wondered how he’d flinch at the larger one in a few minutes, as someone who doesn’t think much of a volleyball to the face twice a match, but scrunches up their face when he gets a little cut.

 _Little cut_ is putting it lightly, though. The piece that had been stuck in Kageyama’s arm was lying on the floor, smeared with sticky blood. His bandage was already being soaked through.

‘You’re being quiet,’ Kageyama said as he patched up the cuts on Hinata’s right arm.

‘So?’ Hinata replied quietly, sounding like a child who’d just been yelled at. It wasn’t the reaction Kageyama was expecting; Hinata should have shouted _am not!_ in order to counteract his momentary quiet state. Instead, he let it continue, the silence creeping back around them. Kageyama didn’t want to break it. He liked Hinata being quieter; it meant he wasn't going to complain loudly in his ear each time one of his injuries particularly stung.

‘Do you think this place is haunted?’ Hinata asked in a rushed voice.

‘Of course not,’ Kageyama replied instantly. There was nothing pointing toward _haunted_. It was just an old house that probably didn’t have long before it collapsed.

‘But do you really think that or–’

‘ _Yes_ ,’ Kageyama pushed, tying the bandage around Hinata’s left hand tighter.

‘I think it’s probably haunted,’ Hinata carried on saying. ‘Places like this always are. There’s always a ghost slamming doors, or throwing things, or pulling at someone’s hair…’

Kageyama sighed and looked to Hinata, about to tell him off for being so annoying when he was trying to help, but stopped before he could get the words together. Hinata’s face was turned away from him, looking as far to the right as he could without moving his body. It dawned on Kageyama that Hinata was scared. Talking a mile a minute to distract himself from the glass digging into his skin, the blood smeared down his arms.

‘…And there’s always something creepy in the attic, like a mysterious book or something cursed, or even a _living person_ covered in cobwebs and–’

‘Hinata,’ Kageyama interrupted. ‘If you want to distract yourself, talk about volleyball. It’s usually what you do.’

‘When do I do that?’

‘You always talk about volleyball.’

‘Not to distract myself.’

‘Well it distracts you anyway, doesn’t it? You probably fail half your classes dreaming about volleyball.’

‘I do not!’ Hinata said, only a half lie. Volleyball was on his mind a lot, but it sort of spurred him on to work harder in class when he could, so he wouldn’t miss out on trips with the team and maybe he, like the current third years, would be able to play into spring, too, once he reached his final year. ‘I’m doing better than _you_ in some classes! You probably dream about volleyball more than me!’

‘I don’t talk about it as much as you.’

‘Because you don’t have anyone to talk to!’

Kageyama huffed and pulled the bandage extra tight, hoping it hurt at least a little. ‘Done,’ Kageyama said, ending their little argument and standing up.

Hinata blinked. ‘What?’ He looked to his arms, sticky with blood still, but neatly, tightly bandaged, and free of glass. ‘You got it out?’ The large piece of glass Hinata had been so worried about, the one he could feel digging deep into his skin, was lying on the rug.

‘It’s huge!’ said Hinata, mouth open. He hadn’t thought it had been such a long, jagged piece; _surely_ he should have felt Kageyama trying to pull that from his arm. He supposed volleyball must dull everything else in him, particularly his tolerance for pain.

‘Don’t thank me, or anything,’ Kageyama huffed again. He grabbed the quilt cover from the floor and carefully draped it over the broken glass, just so Hinata, or one of the others if they happened to wander in, didn’t get hurt. ‘Come on,’ he said, having already picked up his volleyball and started for the door.

The house began to creak louder then. Not underfoot, but above them. Kageyama froze just outside the door, Hinata only a step behind him.

 _A living person, in the attic_ , thought Hinata. It didn’t sound like just one person causing such great groans, however. It didn’t sound like much at all. It was the anticipation that got to Hinata; the creaks came from all directions, and whichever way Hinata’s head snapped to look, he saw nothing, heard nothing further.

To Kageyama it sounded like locks clicking into place. Not that it was a metallic sound – it was definitely the creak of wood – but he got the feeling that each _creak_ was a _click_. The lock kept turning, no focal point to the creaking, and when Kageyama waited, expecting another _click_ nearby, the ceiling collapsed.

 

* * *

 

 

‘So _that’s_ where they ran off to,’ said Daichi, shaking his head.

Suga read over the message from Noya, visualizing the address. ‘Hey, it’s not far. We might as well go,’ he shrugged.

‘Don’t let Noya and Tanaka convert you,’ Daichi warned. ‘It’s bad enough they dragged Asahi away from practice, and even Kageyama went along. Hinata I’m not surprised at.’

‘You don’t think it sounds fun?’ asked Suga. They’d left the library shortly after noticing their teammates had left the field, just as they received Noya’s message. As good students their plan now was to go home and do yet more studying, given they have free time now they shouldn’t waste.

An abandoned house did sound intriguing. Suga just had to work out a way to get Daichi to come along; it’d be funny to see his reaction to the place, if it was as spooky as Hinata made out in his message, and maybe Daichi would go easier on Asahi if they both ran screaming from some imaginary spectre. Definitely one of those we-will-never-talk-about-it-again moments.

‘It sounds like someone will get hurt,’ Daichi said. ‘Especially if Hinata’s running around thinking he saw a monster.’

Suga laughed. ‘You _don’t_ want to see that?’

Despite himself, Daichi smirked. Sure, it would be funny. It generally sounded to him like it would be a fun experience – the sort of thing kids are supposed to do, and they were graduating soon. Would it really be so bad to have a little adventure like this?

Their phones beeped, signalling another message from Noya, this one with a picture attached. ‘Oh, yeah, they’re in _so_ much danger over there,’ said Suga with a roll of his eyes.

Daichi laughed. ‘Noya plus a noisy instrument? Disaster waiting to happen.’

Suga slowed down on the path and cocked his head to the side. ‘Still think it won’t be fun?’ he asked. ‘It’s about five minutes that way,’ he said, pointing down the path to their left.

Daichi sighed. ‘When did I say that?’ He didn’t sound overly enthusiastic, but he ambled along after Suga regardless.

They noticed Hinata’s bike chained up against a railing and knew they’d found the right place. It was midday and they were wary of being spotted by neighbours, or anyone who would rat them out to the police, but the streets were deserted. The surrounding houses were old and worn down, and the area was mostly blocked by an old factory and rows of tall trees.

Once inside the garden, free from the tangle of vines and cobwebs, Suga gestured for Daichi to be quiet. He led the way, tiptoeing down the path and through the door that had been left wide open. It was exciting, in a way – partly terrifying, partly brilliant. It’s something new, and a story to tell, something to give you goosebumps before anything’s even happened. He got them now, looking around the dining room at the mess. Suga wondered why it had been left in such a state. Some of the furniture outside had been tipped over, unlikely by the wind, and the cabinet inside looked like it had been dragged to the floor. He got chills thinking about what had happened there, and how long ago – the thick layer of dust on the candlesticks on the table was ridiculous.

Suga worked his way around the table, finding the door to the hallway. Holding up a hand, letting Daichi know he needed to stop and be quiet, Suga listened for signs of where their friends were. Nobody knew they were there, so maybe they’d get the opportunity to have some fun with that.

He heard nothing ahead of them. Creaks came from every direction, as is expected of an old house like this. He stepped into the closest room, darker than the last, and saw it was a study. When he reached for a candle, Daichi pushed his hand back. Fire probably wasn’t a great idea in a rickety old house, but it meant they couldn’t explore much.

Then, Daichi pulled out his phone and flicked on the built-in torch, grinning at Suga’s expression.

‘Smart arse,’ Suga muttered, copying his action with his own phone.

The study had been ransacked, by the looks of things. Drawers of the desk at the far side of the room had been wrenched away, the contents lying on the ground. The chair was tipped over, and the books and ornaments of the bookshelf had been mostly damaged, too. It enhanced Suga’s curiosity more than anything.

It was Daichi, though, who wandered over to the large set of double doors on the right. The catch was stiff, but he carefully, quietly, pulled the door open, and peered inside with his phone torchlight. It was his turn to investigate, gesturing for Suga to follow.

The next room was darker still, but about the same size. There was a round table in the middle and some form of cabinet on three of the four walls. The fourth wall, to their left, had another door. They didn’t run straight to it, though. It was intriguing to both of them that the room was so much neater, untouched, than the previous. All the chairs were in place around the table, the floor was clear, if a little dirty, and the cabinets still held various artefacts; Suga came across a handful of yellowed letters in a pile, an ornate letter opener lying perfectly by the side.

Into the next room, they could tell it was a kitchen immediately. Two large windows at the far end let a lot of light into the long kitchen. This room, again, was a mess, but given that it’s a kitchen it’s hardly a surprise. It didn’t stink as you’d expect. There was no hint of rotting food, or at least the smell wasn’t strong enough for it. The countertops were dusty, scattered with pans and utensils.

Daichi assumed that, though it looked properly abandoned now, the house had been used as refuge for some homeless people. Why else would the kitchen be such a mess and have less dust than the rest of the house? Clearly the place had been searched, for food or other hidden treasures, by any random squatters than needed a place to stay.

‘Are we looking for anything in particular?’ he asked Suga, who was walking along the other side of the counter.

‘No,’ Suga whispered back. ‘Just exploring. Wanna go find the others?’

The house gave a mighty creak as he spoke, and all around them they could hear various cracking and crunching noises. Daichi and Suga locked eyes for a full two seconds before anything happened. Dust began to fall from the ceiling, and as both boys noticed, both boys ran. 

The ceiling fell quickly, caving in and destroying the far end of the kitchen; the glass shattered within seconds, the sound quickly drowned out by more groans and the crashing sound of the house crumbling around them. Suga watched the collapse in a trance, moving backward at the same time but half as slow as Daichi, who was already by the door before Suga had reached past the counter in the middle of the room. He tripped on his own feet then, falling backwards and landing on his bum, the force finally enough to snap him out of his trance.

Daichi was quicker to react, and ran to his friend, hooked under his arms and began to half-drag, half-lift him out of the room, Suga scrambling to stand at the same time. Before they could reach the door they'd come through, a beam burst through the ceiling and blocked their path, knocking them both backwards into the corner, the last space that hadn't yet been buried by debris, but was slowly being engulfed.

 

* * *

 

Like tectonic plates building up friction and tension over time, the house kept creaking and groaning, building up to the inevitable disaster.

Asahi followed Tanaka and Noya around the house and up the next flight of stairs, just to the right of the balcony. The rooms on the third floor seemed a lot grander than the others, and particularly more complicated. As Asahi got to the top, Noya shot past from the left toward the right, where Tanaka’s voice was calling him, Noya making navigating the house look easy.

The dark walls were lined with ornately framed pictures. Well, they were almost exclusively paintings; dark, oil-painted portraits of people with sour expressions. He came across one, a large portrait of a middle-aged woman, with a smiley face freshly drawn in the dust over her frown. The rest had been left alone for however long the place had been gathering dust, except one. It was a photograph of a building – this house, Asahi thought, but from the front – with a smear mark through the dust, like someone had swept a hand across the glass. It wasn’t new, though, as more dust had gathered over the spot. Asahi got goosebumps wondering how long ago that mark had been made.

Tanaka and Noya could be seen – and heard – up ahead of Asahi, jumping from room to room. Asahi followed slowly, briefly examining the rooms the boys deemed uninteresting as he passed, avoiding looking at the pictures now.

All the doors were open wide, but hardly touched beyond that. They were mostly bedrooms, with large four-poster beds and richly coloured bedspread and drapes.

Asahi came to a larger room with a wide window. There was no bed here but a sofa and set of armchairs, arranged in front of the fireplace. He shuffled around the room, hands in his jacket pockets, kicking bits of the clutter with his shoes. It was the most upside-down of all the rooms he’d come across. The sofa was worn and out of place with the armchairs, one of which had been pushed over, the cushion torn off and positioned by the fire. It wasn’t lit, obviously, but there was a large pile of wood nearby for fuel – it looked like someone had pulled apart the coffee table that had once sat neatly in the centre of the room. It wouldn’t have been the original owners – someone had been squatting here.

Still, it hadn’t been touched for a while. It was a large house and Asahi was suddenly aware that, though creepy, it might not be haunted, but someone _living_ might be lurking in a hidden room, around a corner.

‘Noya! Look at this!’ shouted Tanaka from down the hall, making Asahi jump. He let out a breath, feeling silly for being so nervous, and poked his head out of the room and into the hall.

He laughed again at what he saw, glad that he had chosen to follow Tanaka and Noya and not Hinata and Kageyama. Anytime he got chills in this place, the second years managed to bring a smile to his face, when the first years would probably give him a headache.

Tanaka must have been hunting through a wardrobe, because he now held an old, flimsy, beige dress on his chest, the small beads jangling together as he swayed on the spot. Noya emerged from a room opposite, with about seven large, beaded necklaces bouncing on his chest, and wide bangles all up one arm. The look didn’t work particularly well when he still had cobwebs in his hair, visible even from where Asahi stood.

Noya laughed loudly and Tanaka started posing, pouting and flipping his non-existent long hair over his shoulder. Noya joined in and, when they both saw Asahi, they turned to him.

‘Does it suit me, Asahi?’ Tanaka called, batting his eyelashes.

‘I’m not sure it’s your colour,’ Asahi said, shaking his head.

‘What would you know,’ said Noya, rearranging his necklaces. ‘We look fabulous.’ He hooked arms with Tanaka then, and they both turned, wiggling away. They only lasted a few seconds before dissolving into laughter, and the dress fell to the floor, Tanaka stepping over it, and Noya wrenched the bracelets from his arm. Again they were off, reaching the last room on this side of the floor.

This one was huge. The ceiling reached higher than the others, and the square room was the widest so far. It felt cramped still, though – the towering bookcases on each wall were intimidating, if impressive. The floor was cluttered with books and papers, and the boys had to climb over the mess to look around. Noya jumped around with ease, unsurprisingly, and jumped right up the bookcase ladder.

‘Noya, be careful!’ Asahi called. They hadn’t been in much danger so far, hunting through wardrobes and jewellery boxes, but climbing on probably unsteady bookcases was more alarming. Tanaka didn’t seem that interested in the mess around them, but he was encouraging Noya to climb higher.

‘It’s fine, Asahi,’ Tanaka said, leaning on a small table, which shuffled backwards a little with an eerie scraping sound.

Noya wasn’t scared of climbing higher. He said countless times how the sky wasn’t his domain on the court; as libero he stayed closer to the ground, leaving the sky battles to the others, but he couldn’t resist the bookcase. An old-fashioned house with dusty old paintings and moth-eaten dresses, complete with a library fitted with a sliding ladder, for goodness sake. It was stiff, and he had to kick the shelf a little before the ladder dislodged itself, and then he shot to the side with more speed than he’d expected, left leg and arm breaking away from the ladder by the force.

He laughed loudly, looking back at his friends down below – Asahi looking like he was in the middle of a heart attack, and Tanaka looked worried also. Noya’s wide grin spread to Tanaka too and, when they both laughed, Asahi allowed himself to smile.

Noya’s grin was wiped away as quickly as it appeared, though. The ladder shook beneath him and suddenly buckled, one of the catches going loose and breaking from its hold, snapping away from the bookcase. Noya lost his footing and his hands scrambled to grab onto anything they could – one reached for a book, which he accidentally dragged from the shelf and let fall to the floor, and the other hand, luckily, latched tightly onto the shelf above his head. His fingertips pressed down hard on the edge of the shelf, holding his entire weight until he managed to swing his other arm up to hold on too.

‘Noya!’ Asahi and Tanaka yelled, Asahi instantly running through the scattered books and avoiding the broken ladder on the floor. He was ready to catch Noya if he fell, or help him down carefully, but things happened pretty quickly.

Noya’s grip on the shelf was strong and he was secure there, but the shelf wasn’t. Slowly, Noya felt himself sliding away from the shelf, but he realized too late that his grip wasn’t the problem; it was the shelf dislodging itself from its hold, and Noya panicked. He kicked his feet out as he fell, hitting Asahi in probably several places, but being caught easily by the ace nonetheless.

The panel of shelf fell beside them, harmlessly, and Asahi staggered back under Noya’s weight, wincing at the kick to the head and shoulder.

‘Sorry, Asahi!’

‘It’s fine,’ he murmured, placing Noya on the floor.

‘Erm, guys…’ said Tanaka, eyes wide and looking back up at the bookcase. There was something moving above and around them. It quickly got louder, and the boys flinched when something crunched, and books started shuddering and falling from the shelf.

Tanaka grabbed for his friends, pulling at their clothes and letting them know they needed to leave, _now_ , and they all ran from the room. The made the mistake, though, of stopping just outside the door, thinking the collapse would be contained. The cracks and crunches were louder above their heads in the hall, and before long the ceiling was caving in behind them as they ran.

Someone skidded on the discarded dress from earlier, slowing the trio down, scrambling along so they wouldn’t be buried. They reached the end of the hall and stopped, Asahi in front not able to recall which direction led to the stairs, but Noya pushed past him and almost ran right under the debris before Tanaka pulled him back. The path to the left was blocked, their floor already beginning to cave in, so their only option was the right.

Asahi locked onto the room far ahead of them, the last room they could reach, determined to get themselves in there, hoping it wouldn’t be engulfed too. He reached the doorframe and stopped, ushering Tanaka and Noya in before himself, and shutting the door behind them. It was a silly thing to do; a door couldn’t stop the attic crashing down on them.

And it didn’t. The room they ended up in was long, stretching far to their left. It was another sitting room, but quite sparse. Noya and Tanaka were already in the centre of the room, catching their breath. Asahi ran to the nearest window – they were looking out onto the front of the house, on the side to the right of where they came in. Asahi gulped as he looked down, seeing a steep drop below them and nothing to ease their fall.

‘S-so–’ Tanaka started, but he wasn’t loud or quick enough to beat the great creaking above them, where the ceiling finally collapsed under the weight of whatever was being held in the attic, and buried them.


	3. The Bedroom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hinata/Kageyama chapter.  
> They're trapped in the little bedroom, and need to find a way out, before the rest of the house collapses.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realise it's called 'the bedroom' and that sounds kind of... well, you know, but yeah there's nothing like that here, I'm afraid!  
> Hope you enjoy!  
> 

Hinata was breathing hard, eyes wide, staring at the jagged assortment of boards and beams that now blocked their exit. There was no obvious way out; the beams crisscrossed, creating tiny gaps one might just be able to fit an arm through, so there was no place they could crawl under or step over. No debris spilled into the room, but nobody could be sure that the ceiling above them was secure enough.

Hinata still held the back of Kageyama’s jacket tightly in both hands. Slowly, he unclenched his fists, realising that if he hadn’t pulled Kageyama backward, Kageyama would be trapped beneath the disaster at the door, injured and bleeding, unconscious maybe, or worse.

He shook the thought from his head and looked around. They’d landed on the floor, Kageyama falling backward onto Hinata, who had barely missed bashing his head on the knocked-over table near the window. Hinata sat up slightly, using his right palm to steady himself, feeling the glass cracking beneath the duvet as he did. Kageyama lay across him, stunned but very much alive and uninjured.

‘A-are you okay?’ asked Hinata.

Kageyama turned his head slowly, looking to Hinata at a sideways angle. ‘Yeah,’ he said quietly. _Thanks_ , he didn’t quite manage to say. Kageyama had to roll onto the floor as Hinata started to sit up, both wincing at their injuries.

There wasn’t any more blood, or anything besides a few bruises. Hinata’s bandage on his palm had come loose, but the others were in tact, doing a good job of soaking up the blood.

Kageyama jumped to his feet, brushing dust from his jacket. He and Hinata were both fine following the collapse, but what about the others in the house? Kageyama wasn’t even sure where they all were – Tanaka and Noya had been heard running upstairs, but they hadn’t heard anything of Asahi. Their teammates could be anywhere, trapped beneath the splinters of wood. Hinata stood too, and they both moved toward the door, inspecting the damage more closely.

They could see through to the floor above them. It was dark, but they could make out picture frames hanging slanted now on the walls, knocked over by the debris that fell from the attic. They could see to the attic as well, actually, but that was much darker – all they could make out was a jagged outline were the floor had split.

Hinata’s chest felt tight. They were trapped, their friends were elsewhere, silent, and Hinata worried over what disaster would strike next. It was clear to him that this wasn’t just an accident; he was slowly convincing himself this place was haunted.

He ducked down and crawled through a gap in the blockage. There was no part of Hinata that thought it was a wise thing to do, but Hinata wasn’t really thinking, he was taking action. All he knew was that he couldn’t stay there, waiting, and he locked onto the largest space he could see before him, and tried to squeeze through.

It was a tiny gap, and Hinata regretted his decision as soon as it was made. Thin spikes of wood stabbed him from all directions. His hand still hurt, and getting splinters in both now wasn’t helping.

He tried to crawl through a gap to his right, one much to small to fit his shoulders through, and felt his jacket, which he’d tied around his waist earlier, snag against something behind him. The space was too small to turn around in, so he couldn’t tear himself free, and he started to panic. _I’ll have to crawl backward_ , he thought, the sound of his heartbeat booming in his ears. _What if I knock something over? Will the whole house fall down?_ He wasn’t exactly the most graceful, so it was entirely likely that the house could crash around him if he put a foot out of place, and the terrifying though hit him like – well, like a ton of bricks, though the expression made him feel even worse.

Whilst still debating what best to do – the winner so far being to stay perfectly still, for once in his life – he felt a tug at his jacket again, but stronger this time, actually pulling him backwards and out from under the debris in one move.

‘Hinata!’ growled Kageyama as he dragged the boy away, throwing him to the floor with more force than needed. ‘You _dumbass_! What the _hell_ were you thinking?’

The house groaned again and, momentarily, both boys’ expressions slid away. They stood perfectly still as more crashes sounded outside their room, more of the house falling to block their exit. When it stopped seconds later, the boys were still unharmed, but the pile of wood was larger and, probably, much heavier, so it was just a matter of time before it snapped too.

As soon as the house stopped collapsing again, Kageyama whirled around to Hinata, angry and shaking still. ‘See?’ he said, considerably quieter than the last outburst. He didn’t know if it had been his voice or him dragging Hinata away from the debris, but that second collapse was definitely his fault. ‘You could have been buried under that, idiot!’

‘I just panicked!’ defended Hinata.

‘Well _don’t_.’

‘We’re _trapped_ here, Kageyama. What am I supposed to do?’

Kageyama shrugged and sat on the bed, flopping down hard without considering that it might collapse – which, luckily, it didn’t. Kageyama kept his feet firmly on the ground, though, in case he felt it breaking beneath him. He sat forward, elbows resting on his knees, and held his hands together in front of his face, willing them to stop shaking so much. He rested his forehead on his hands, gave a long sigh and counted to ten as many times as it took to calm down.

Hinata watched Kageyama for a few minutes. He’d told him off for panicking, but this looked like Kageyama’s version. He kept it contained though – the total opposite of Hinata.

‘Suppose our only way out is the window,’ said Hinata, pushing himself off the floor.

‘We’re two storeys up,’ Kageyama said quickly. ‘We’ll break something if we jump.’

Despite Kageyama’s negativity toward their only clear escape, Hinata smiled, an idea relighting the hope within him. ‘We don’t have to jump. In films they always tie together a bunch of sheets and climb down, right? We could–’

‘Nope,’ Kageyama interrupted. He held up his bandaged arm. ‘We used the sheet, and the duvet isn’t long enough.’      

Hinata frowned, annoyed that none of his plans were working. They needed to find a way out. Hinata _needed_ to keep up his faith that they weren’t trapped eternally, and that their last resort wasn’t to maybe break both legs jumping out of a window.

The wardrobe caught his eye, and he bounced over to it – _there’s bound to be something in here!_ he thought. Already he was imagining himself and Kageyama successfully tying together the old clothes, securing it to the bedpost and safely climbing back to the ground.

Then Hinata groaned. ‘Damn it!’ The wardrobe was empty of anything useful. He’d expected a big fur coat, at least, which could’ve cushioned their fall a little. There weren’t even any spare sheets tucked neatly on the top shelf.

Kageyama’s fingertips were digging hard into the spaces between his knuckles as he clenched his hands tightly together. His hands weren’t shaking now; he was concentrating too hard on where Hinata was, listening closely for the creaks and groans that followed his movements. He was making too much noise, moving too much, and the old house didn’t like it.

When Hinata slammed closed one of the wardrobe doors, Kageyama snapped.

‘Just–’ he yelled, but stopped quickly, realizing he was shouting again. ‘Just, stop moving. This place obviously isn’t safe.’

‘Yeah, so we should be looking for a way out–’

‘There _is_ no way out!’

‘Quit interrupting me!’ Hinata said loudly. He understood that Kageyama was panicking too, but he didn’t have to be so negative. There’s always a way out in these situations, he told himself – always.

Kageyama shot up from the bed and was inches from Hinata’s face within seconds, his angry glare fixed on his face.

Hinata gulped. ‘Gonna help now?’

Kageyama held a hand over Hinata for a few seconds, and Hinata flinched – it’s not like he didn’t deserve it. He’d shouted at Kageyama; he’d been punished for less than that before by his teammate - Scared Kageyama could probably hit harder, pull out his hair with less force than usual.

Only air hit Hinata’s face. When he unscrunched his eyes, Kageyama had turned away from him, looking at the blockage at the door again, both hands on his head.

Hinata exhaled with relief. He decided it was best not to talk to Kageyama again for a few minutes, and instead he looked out the window. He could see where they’d entered the overgrown garden, where they’d trampled over the vines and fallen leaves. Even from the first floor window he couldn’t see over the fence, back into the street; the trees were too thick.

His hands found their way to the window ledge, avoiding the tiny glass fragments lying there, and Hinata peered out the smashed window. The drop below would probably hurt – there was nothing to break their fall, only concrete. Below and to his left was the door they’d come through. Whoever had been in last had left it open, so it swung slowly with the breeze, the hinge creaking eerily. To Hinata’s right was the old greenhouse; from above he could see the dead plants through a crack in the roof.

A grin bloomed on Hinata’s face then, when he saw behind the greenhouse, between it and the old house – it could be a pantry, or just an extra part of a room, but there was a small part of the house jutting out onto the patio, not quite as wide as the greenhouse. There wasn’t a window attached to it, but there was a small roof, just perfect to slide down.

Before Hinata got too excited and told Kageyama, he leaned further out the window, his neck dangerously close to a spike of glass. The smaller roof looked secure enough to him. Nothing to the right of him seemed to show any signs of collapse, yet.

Had they been two rooms down, getting onto the smaller roof would be no problem. The window opened right above it – they would already be out of the house if they’d been in that room! Their only option was to shimmy along a tiny ledge that wrapped around the house, but it was better than waiting and getting caught up in the inevitable collapse.

Hinata pulled a table leg from the fallen table and used it to smash the remaining glass around the window frame.

‘What are you doing _now_?’ called Kageyama.

Hinata jumped a little, then moved aside. ‘There’s a ledge we can walk across to get to that,’ he pointed. ‘And we can slide down the side.’ For some reason, he was nervous at getting Kageyama’s approval for his idea – though he had already shot down every other possible escape plan Hinata had come up with. This one couldn’t be disputed.

Kageyama huffed, then yanked the table leg from Hinata’s grip, and threw it to the floor. Hinata was about to complain, when Kageyama reached to the window and flipped the catch, and the window frame swung open to the left.

He smirked at Hinata. ‘I’ll go first,’ he said, holding tight to the sides of the bare window frame and steadying one foot on the base of the window. For Hinata’s sake, he was glad he was there, or else Hinata would have had to climb up onto the window ledge with tiny shards of glass digging in his palms.

He wasn’t glad to go first, though. It was high, and he knew how unsteady the building was. Still, that spurred him on, wanted him to escape as soon as possible. This really was their best option, though he wasn’t happy about it.

Kageyama’s second foot landed securely on the window frame, and shuffled carefully with his right foot, testing out the thin ledge; it was only a few inches wide, but it was plenty in order to cross the short distance to the little roof.

Kageyama couldn’t look back – he needed to focus everything he had on his footing and getting to the next window – but he heard Hinata stepping up onto the window ledge beside him.

Hinata was oddly quiet again. The last time he’d been like that was when a huge glass shard had been stuck in his arm – when he’d been scared. It was no surprise he felt even more terrified now. Part of him felt that he should be his usual, loud self, but he didn’t want to force something like that when they were balancing on a thin ledge, a huge slab of concrete waiting below.


	4. The Kitchen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Suga and Daichi's adventures in the kitchen. It's a mess in there and they had been trapped in a tight corner, so need to work out their options.

‘Be careful, Suga.’

Suga avoided a retort but rolled his eyes. Of _course_ he’d be careful. He was stood on the countertop, which was littered with debris that Suga kicked at as he ducked between the beams above and around his head. If he happened to step in the wrong place, the rest of the house could easily drop on top of him.

He held two phones above his head, as high as he could safely reach; one was cracked and mostly useless, but with the torch working full power, and the other working perfectly, but the battery was slowly draining and there was no change in the signal bars.

‘It’s not working,’ he decided eventually with a sigh.  

He lowered Daichi’s phone, the working one, and kept his own held up, torch shining brightly into the crack above his head.

The collapse had left them cornered under a mountain of broken house. The windows at the far end of the room were smashed, with glittering glass piled high to block any gaps the fallen ceiling had missed. The crack in the ceiling was their only way out, but as Suga scanned the area, he knew it was hopeless; unless one of them could fly, they had no chance of getting up there.

Daichi groaned, but he could do worse in this situation. They had known already that the house was unstable, and now it had collapsed around them it was more likely to shift at even the slightest of raised voices. Daichi stood in the corner away from the mess. Suga had told him to stay still, since he’d hit his head on the back wall as they’d hurried backward, but Daichi had refused to sit down whilst Suga climbed on top of the counter and explored the collapse up close.

Suga felt responsible, too. If he hadn’t panicked as the house started falling apart, Daichi wouldn’t have had to pull him back, so he wouldn’t have been hurt. That’s why he was balancing on his toes between the wreckage, looking for a way out and a way to get a message to their friends or the authorities.

As Suga shuffled toward the edge, looking for the safest and least damaging way to get off the counter, Daichi moved forward to help him down.

‘Hey, you stay back – what good is it if we both get buried alive?’ Suga said, only half-joking. Even though he grinned as he spoke, his chest felt heavy.

‘Nobody’s getting buried alive,’ Daichi replied quickly, but he stayed back and let Suga jump down himself, flinching at the dust that fell from above. 

‘Well, it’s not likely we’ll be leaving any time soon,’ shrugged Suga.

Daichi sighed. ‘True… what are you doing now?’

‘There might be a way under, if we can’t go over,’ Suga replied, not really believing it himself, but knowing they couldn’t just sit around doing nothing. He was crouched in front of the counter, shining the torch through the mess. If they were careful enough, they could _try_ to get through the gaps and reach the window, but Suga knew that idea would have to be a last resort – like if they ended up trapped there for days. Given how unstable the place was, they’d probably not make it out without severely crushing their bodies. ‘How’s your head?’

‘Fine.’

Suga stood and turned to Daichi, flashing a smile that Daichi could only just make out in the darkness of the kitchen. ‘Then help me look for a way out.’

There wasn’t a lot of space to explore. Suga, with the torch, kept searching the mess for any possible exits. Daichi used his phone display to look around behind them, away from the corner.

A rusty old padlock shone ever so slightly in the dim light, and Daichi hurried to it hopefully. It could lead to another room, one free from the destruction they were faced with, or at least a room with a window they could reach – anything that could serve as an escape route.

The padlock was hanging off the hinge, and Daichi yanked back the old metal bar. The door was just as stiff to open; having no real handle, just the small metal bar, Daichi struggled to get enough grip on the door to pull it open, but he did eventually, grinning as he peered into the next room.

It was a pantry. An empty one, at that, so even if he and Suga were trapped there for more than just a few hours, they’d have nothing to eat. Daichi’s shoulders dropped. There was no window, just shelves stacked haphazardly with clay pots and metal pans and broken glass jars.

Daichi stepped into the room, which creaked considerably less than the kitchen. At least it was free of broken ceiling. His last hope for this room was that, hidden around the shelves somewhere was a tiny window, a catch for a hidden door… but there was nothing. Only a cobweb-covered broomstick and what looked like a dead mouse sat at the back amongst the clutter. Even the cupboards were bare. Daichi sighed and rubbed his face with his hands, leaning back on one of the cupboards.

‘Has your phone got signal yet?’ called Suga from the kitchen.

‘No,’ Daichi replied with a heavy sigh. He’d been forgetting to check, but it was probably useless anyway. The signal bars were still non-existent, and his battery was going the same way. They might have had a better chance at contacting someone if Suga hadn’t smashed his phone when he fell.

‘Noya was able to send that photo earlier, though – we should be able to get signal here too.’

Daichi tilted his head back, resting it against one of the shelves, and closed his eyes. He was careful not to lean on his left side, where his head still throbbed from hitting the wall. ‘That was before the house decided to cave in on itself.’

There was a long pause. All Daichi could hear was Suga shuffling around in the next room.

‘Do you think they’re OK?’

Daichi opened his eyes and sighed again. He didn’t really know how to answer that. When they’d arrived there was no sign of their friends, apart from the open door and the footprints in the dining room. They hadn’t even been there long before the collapse happened. Daichi would remember if he’d heard anything from above them, and he couldn’t think of anything – surely he should have heard Hinata, and Kageyama yelling at him, and Noya’s constantly loud voice should have been heard from the garden.

‘They’ll be fine,’ he told Suga. He was worrying himself now. They _couldn’t_ be OK. True, they couldn’t yell out for help because the house was so unstable, but there wasn’t even anyone moving above them; the only creaks Daichi could hear came from Suga’s steps, and anything else was just randomly shifting debris.

It’s completely possible that they moved on from the house. They might have deemed it uninteresting after a quick exploration, and gone home. Daichi didn’t think it that likely, though – he knew those boys, he reckoned Tanaka and Noya would be in their element exploring a place like this. And if their friends hadn’t caused the house to collapse, what had?

Daichi rubbed the side of his head and left the pantry. That hit to the head earlier was messing with him. It had to be one of them to cause such a disaster – maybe someone, probably Asahi, tripped over something – that seemed likely. The house was old anyway; it wouldn’t have taken much force.

‘Er… Suga?’ Daichi looked around the small space they’d been forced into, unable to spot his friend at all. The torch was lighting up the wreckage that trapped them, but Daichi couldn’t spot the source immediately.

‘Over here,’ called Suga, shining his torchlight back at Daichi.

‘Suga!’ Daichi hissed, as loudly as he would dare. ‘What are you doing there?!’

On the other side of the nearest counter, behind the jagged mess of ceiling, stood Suga, his face lit eerily by the torch at his side. ‘There’s a way underneath it all,’ he said, crouching and shining the light at a narrow space free of debris. ‘Better than the dead end, right?’

Daichi didn’t look impressed. ‘It could be twice as dangerous over there, Suga.’

He agreed, though, that it was better than the pantry. They had a better chance of exploring rooms beyond the kitchen on the other side, even if the room they’d come in through had been demolished. ‘How do I get through?’

‘Here,’ Suga carefully pushed his phone across the floor under the assortment of beams. It was a few metres to crawl across, and Daichi saw how difficult a path it was as the torchlight illuminated the sharp spikes of wood he’d have to crawl beneath. ‘I’ll guide you.’

Somewhat reluctantly, Daichi knelt down and began to work his way through the maze. First he pushed his schoolbag under the mess, and it got caught on a spike of wood. Daichi held his breath as he waited for the whole thing to collapse, but it didn’t; Suga managed to carefully pull it free, and then it was Daichi’s turn to make the journey.

Suga tried his best to guide Daichi, but it wasn’t easy; neither could see much given how the torch was positioned, illuminating one spot slightly ahead of where Daichi was. More than once Daichi banged into something, and froze for a full minute before moving on, feeling like this time he _knew_ the whole thing was going to fall on him. Suga was most helpful watching Daichi’s legs, making sure they didn’t bang into anything as Daichi concentrated on what he could see in front.

‘Keep to your right – oh, I mean left, sorry,’ said Suga. His hands were planted firmly on the floor in front of where he knelt, so it wasn’t obvious that he was shaking with nerves. The shaking in his voice was clear enough, though, but Daichi didn’t pick up on it. Suga just had to concentrate, squinting to see in the dark how his friend was moving around, making sure he didn’t get crushed.

It had been hell to crawl under there, alone. Suga had done it without Daichi’s help, on a whim, just because he needed to get beyond their corner. At one point, Suga had rolled onto his side to shuffle through a narrower gap, and then he turned on his back before moving on. The broken bits of house were inches from his nose then, stacked together unsteadily, _so_ close to collapsing altogether and crushing him.

That’s what he saw in his head as he lay there. The whole house falling on him. His friends falling with it.

He knew they were somewhere in the house, trapped and injured, and that terrified him. It was scary enough that himself and Daichi were stuck there with nobody knowing where they were, but his friends could be elsewhere trapped and unconscious, unable to alert the authorities, unable to do much at all.

‘Now here you’ll have to roll on your side,’ Suga was saying to Daichi. He was past halfway now. Suga caught a glimpse of Daichi’s face and could tell it was a struggle for him – Daichi was bigger than Suga, but as well as that he was clearly panicking. ‘Go slowly, be careful,’ Suga said softly, echoing what he’d been saying countless times already to fill the silence.

Once Daichi cleared this obstacle, there wasn’t much left in his way. A pair of beams crisscrossed together, but there was plenty room to crawl through quickly and safely. Daichi concentrated on his breathing and turned carefully, slowly, and thought how best he could push himself through the gap without knocking everything over. He thought it impressive that Suga had managed this by himself. He couldn’t get distracted now, though, so he closed his eyes for a few seconds and calmed his nerves, stopped his chest from heaving so rapidly.

Suga wasn’t concentrating as hard. His mind started playing tricks on him – or, that’s what he told himself later. He could hear noise around him somewhere, a new noise. It wasn’t the creaks or crashes of the house, but he couldn’t place what it actually was. His ears pricked up to catch more of the sound and lock onto it, and that’s when Daichi’s foot kicked out too far, and he hit one of the beams.

‘Daichi!’ Suga shouted on instinct, hearing the beam being dislodged and knowing the domino effect that would follow. Daichi had pulled himself through the narrow gap with no problem, until that last push where he didn’t have Suga guiding his feet.

There was a groan and the structure started to fall. The far end crashed first, cracking and shifting debris across the whole mountain.

Daichi wasn’t paying attention to his breathing or nerves or anything else at that moment, he just scrambled away as fast as he could. It wasn’t easy to crawl quickly when lying on your belly, but Daichi decided he no longer needed to be careful. He jumped onto his toes and began to crawl out from under the collapse, one hand clutching the torch now illuminating just the clear space ahead.

His back pushed against the debris above him as it broke free. He could feel it tumbling behind, falling to the floor as his feet hurried away. It felt like Daichi was holding the majority of the collapse up. Daichi wasn’t crawling now, but he was still close enough to the ground that he could use his fingertips for an extra push forward.

The collapse wasn’t focused purely behind Daichi. It spread quickly, the maze around him dislodging beams and boards in every direction, and the side to his right began to quickly fall.

A beam slid in front of Daichi, quickly dropping from above, and he barely managed to dodge around the jagged piece of wood. It scraped against the side of his face, and Daichi flinched at the pain that bloomed along his right cheek. Somehow he scooted around the beam, but the new hit to the face distracted his coordination and again he lost control of his feet, which slid to the side, and suddenly Daichi’s chest slammed to the floor, the debris not far behind.

Suga’s hands appeared in front of his face then. Instinctively, Daichi wrapped his hands around Suga’s forearms. Suga pulled his friend out from under the collapse in one swift, strong pull.

The wreckage crashed down, eliminating any gaps left between it and the floor. There was definitely no way back, under or over.

Suga’s eyes darted around the room to check if it showed signs of caving in, too. Other than dust falling from the ceiling, the house was still again. The noises Suga thought he heard just moments ago were gone now – they had probably never been there in the first place, he thought.

He’d dragged Daichi away with more force than he thought he had, and had ended up rolled over onto his back with Daichi lying across his stomach. Suga’s leg was bent under him uncomfortably, but that was about the extent of his injuries. Daichi, on the other hand, had a long, bloody graze across one side of his face, and he flinched away from Suga as his cheek pressed painfully against his side.

Suga stared, frozen, as Daichi pushed himself up and rolled onto the floor, complaining as he did. His face wasn’t dripping in blood, and his other injuries probably went no further than bruises, but still he had been hurt – and it was Suga’s fault. That’s how the setter saw it. He’d managed to get across just fine and then convinced Daichi to try too. Again, Suga thought suddenly, it was his fault Daichi was injured – his panic before had caused Daichi to hit his head, and his distraction just now had almost buried his best friend.

‘I…I–’

‘Don’t say sorry.’

‘But Dai–’

‘It’s not your fault,’ said Daichi in a tone that he knew Suga wouldn’t challenge. Daichi _definitely_ didn’t blame Suga for that – it was Daichi’s foot, after all, that had started the chain reaction. In the dim light they had from Suga’s phone, it would have been hard to spot the beam anyway; Suga could have been focusing on nothing else and _still_ not have seen the beam through the dark.

Daichi didn’t ask what it was that had distracted Suga. He assumed he was worried about their friends, and it was best not to bring the subject up again – once they got out, they could look into it further. Daichi knew he needed to distract them both now, get them focused back on an escape route.

He stood and helped Suga to his feet, snatching the phone from the ground beside the wreckage. The torch was still shining brightly, but the display was so damaged that the battery level was impossible to work out. 

If the pantry had been any hope for them, it was no use now – they had to explore this part of the kitchen and hope for the best.

It seemed the door they’d come through was the only entrance to the kitchen, or any other ways out had already been crushed. The space they now occupied was twice as large as their corner, but just as empty. They walked around, peering closely at anything they found. Daichi gave up after a few minutes, his phone display being a useless source of light, and held his phone up again for a last attempt at contacting someone; the battery level had reached dangerously low now, so it was just a matter of time before it faded entirely.

As he walked around slowly, he heard something that switched a light bulb in his head. He tapped his foot a few times, just to make sure before he got his hopes up too high, but he was fairly certain when he heard the sound again.

‘Suga,’ he whispered, excited and hopeful, finally.

‘What?’ Suga whispered back, turning and illuminating Daichi’s torso and face, making his smile look terrifying.

‘Listen,’ he tapped his feet again and watched Suga’s eyes widen. ‘It’s hollow.’

They both scrambled to the floor and Suga pointed the torch at the spot Daichi had been tapping. They found the seal and Daichi grabbed a stray piece of wood sitting at the base of a nearby pile, and he began digging between the crack. Within seconds he’d pulled the boards away, one by one, and a large square opening sat between himself and Suga.

Daichi sighed. ‘A hidden door.’ He turned to Suga and grinned at his expression.

The opening was pitch black. Suga’s torch lay at his side, shining upward, and he was reluctant to let it illuminate their next escape route – what if this was really a dead end? They couldn’t even tell how deep it was.

As if the house weren’t creepy enough. It had to have a dark and spooky hidden cellar, too, didn’t it?

Suga grinned and gave a nervous laugh. ‘After you.’

 

* * *

 

Yamaguchi looked over the picture on his phone. Hinata took up the majority of the frame, with Tanaka’s face peering over his shoulder, pulling one of his usual strange faces. The blurry spike of dark hair on the other side was probably Noya as he moved to be in the photo, but just missed out – or as he moved backward to drag Asahi into view, because the tall shape at the back had to be the ace. Thin green branches cut in the photo here and there, a canopy of leaves draped above them.

 _Leading the way to the haunted house!_ said the caption on Hinata’s message.

He’d already had the message from Noya giving directions, and Hinata’s had come through shortly after.

Tsukishima had hardly even looked at the messages. He’d glanced over the screen, barely raised an eyebrow, and quickly dismissed the messages in favour of his music selection. Yamaguchi had been quite interested until that moment. It sounded so different and, well, _fun_ , to explore an abandoned house together. It would be funnier than usual, too, to see Hinata and Kageyama running around scared in a place like that – surely Tsukishima would find that amusing. But the idea hadn’t interested him enough, it seemed.

Yamaguchi jumped as his phone vibrated in his hand. It was another message from Noya, a picture this time, with just him and Tanaka, posed in front of an old, dusty piano. He let out an involuntary laugh.

‘Yamaguchi,’ Tsukishima said, bringing Yamaguchi back into the real world.

He was blocking the door to a fridge at the supermarket and quickly hopped to the side when Tsukki asked. ‘Sorry, Tsukki!’ He waited patiently as Tsukishima selected a drink and examined it, and it seemed like he was taking his time on purpose. As soon as he turned around, Yamaguchi jumped forward. ‘H-have you seen this? It’s a new picture message from Noya.’

‘Is that what you were laughing at?’ Tsukishima asked with a sneer, again barely looking at the picture.

‘Yeah – doesn’t it look fun?’ he grinned.

‘Not really,’ Tsukishima said with a shrug. Without another word he was off, adding himself to the queue to buy his drink.

He wasn’t going to lie to Yamaguchi, what good would that do? He didn’t want to be surrounded by Hinata and Kageyama screaming at rustling curtains, or have to hear whatever foul tunes Noya pulled from that old piano. Tsukishima would much rather go home and listen to his music, maybe study some more, than stand by and watch his teammates playing fools in an old, rickety house.

As they left the shop, he noticed Yamaguchi still held his phone in his grasp, the photo of Noya and Tanaka still lighting the display. It was still early in the day. A small part of Tsukishima thought it would be a waste to simply go home on a day like this - but that didn't necessarily mean his time could be better spent exploring some old building. 

‘What good would going to the _haunted house_ do?’ asked Tsukishima, unscrewing his drink and taking a swig. He was speculating more than he was asking. He knew it wouldn’t really do any good, but it wouldn’t do any harm, either.

‘Erm… none?’ answered Yamaguchi, shoving his phone behind his back, like a child who’d been caught out.

Yamaguchi really looked like he wanted to go, thought Tsukishima. He knew how hard Yamaguchi was working so he could be a better volleyball player, so he wouldn’t be the only first year not playing regularly – he needed to feel like part of the team. Would joining the others at this abandoned house make Yamaguchi feel more like part of the team?

‘How far away is it?’ Tsukishima asked as he put his drink away in his bag. They’d already begun the walk home, like they’d already silently decided neither of them had any interest in the abandoned house. That wasn’t the case any more.

‘A-about fifteen minutes, I think,’ said Yamaguchi quietly. He didn’t think it likely that Tsukki would want to go along, but he was a little more hopeful when he asked that – he wouldn’t just be enquiring for the sake of it.

Tsukishima stopped on the path and half-turned. He was debating whether or not it was worth it. Yamaguchi stopped too. Half a second later, Tsukishima sighed and turned to Yamaguchi.

‘If we’re lucky we might be able to get a picture of Kageyama running screaming from a ‘ghost’,’ he said with a smile.

Yamaguchi’s face lit up, and he laughed. ‘Right, Tsukki!’

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realised, with them being stuck in the smallest space in the fanfic, I could've had them squashed really closely together for all you Daisuga shippers, but I totally avoided it... and then decided Daichi could lie on top of Suga and that'd make up for it.  
> This fanfic is so pure.  
> Also surprise visit from Yams and Tsukki! Really don't think I did well getting those two right but hey ho, I'll have to try harder next time they come around!  
> 


	5. The Sitting Room

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On the top floor of the old abandoned house, Asahi, Tanaka and Noya seem to have the worst of the collapse - it had begun with them, after all.

Asahi put a hand to his throbbing head, and when he pulled it back, there was a pool of blood sitting in his palm. His vision went fuzzy for a moment as he looked around and remembered where he was, and why half of his body was trapped under some broken furniture.

He sat up carefully and dragged his lower half from under the smashed table. Standing up made him dizzy, so it took him almost five minutes to ease his spinning head enough that he didn’t have to lean on his knees.

As soon as he opened his eyes, he wanted to sit back down again.

Asahi remembered how bare this long room had been before the attic had spat out this disaster. Come to think of it, most of the rooms were mostly bare of anything you’d expect – large, ornate mirrors, candlesticks, statues and random bits of furniture that just finished the room off and gave a more regal feeling. Now Asahi was looking at the reason why – everything had been stored in the attic. 

He’d assumed it had all been stolen. Anything of value would have been taken when the squatters had their look around. But, no, the furniture had all been collected in the highest level of the house, and it had been much too heavy to take the weight any longer.

The hole in the ceiling stretched almost to the edge of the room. It was centered above the left side of the room, the far end away from the door, so where Asahi had been standing was mostly free from the mess. The hole began directly above Asahi’s head as he looked upward now, his vision blurry again as he moved around too quickly. He could see clearly through to the attic; the roof was more damaged than it had appeared, and light snuck in through the cracks between beams. He could see how packed the attic was, how furniture teetered on the edge of the crack, debating whether or not it wanted to join in. Even as Asahi watched, a small board swung loose and hit the pile below. Part of Asahi panicked – it had been like slow motion, and he just expected the whole floor to cave in then with that one, tiny piece of wood – but the structure held. How long it would continue to hold was anybody’s guess.

‘N…N-Noya!’ Asahi’s strained voice came out in a whimper, then more of a shout. He covered his mouth quickly, listening to the boards that shifted. Either it was his friend responding, or Asahi’s shout had caused the debris to shift – or, the small plank that had just fallen was simply sliding further into the pile. He spoke again, a loud whisper this time. ‘Tanaka!’

His friends weren’t stood above the wreckage like they should be. It hadn’t pushed them to the side, like Asahi had been, from what he could see.

The collapse had spilled across the left side of the room. It was an odd collection of furniture; cushioned sofas and mahogany tables, oak dining chairs stuck up at every angle, and large, mysterious chests. And there were random bits of ephemera too, like books and ornaments and, of course, the smashed pieces of attic floor. Asahi gulped. That had to be heavy. And his friends were trapped beneath it.

Asahi put a foot forward when he got no response, wincing as the floor groaned. Moving the first foot got the rest of him working properly and he, ignoring the floor’s complaints, moved around the pile before him, looking for his friends.

He skirted around the side by the window, because the door had been blocked completely by the mess – it probably wouldn’t be a great escape route anyway, as Asahi vividly remembered the collapsing ceiling as they ran through the hallway. As he walked he called out for his friends in a low, wobbling whisper.

After a few minutes of nothing – no signs of them, no sounds – Asahi’s panic fully set in.

He was at the other side of the room by then, still by the window, the furthest place he could reach. He started to struggle with his breathing and turned to the window behind him, clutching the frame tightly with both hands.

Asahi’s gaze fell on the floor by his feet. It shifted slowly upward, sweeping over the battered, peeling wallpaper, across the dusty window ledge where his fingers were pressed, and outside into the garden. It was higher up than Asahi remembered. The garden was bigger than he remembered, too – even if he could shout, he didn’t think people would be able to hear him across that space, through the thick copse of trees that lined the garden.

His breathing got heavier and he leant his forehead against the glass. He couldn’t close his eyes again; watching his breath on the glass had a calming effect, so he stared at that until his eyes felt funny, regulating his breathing as he watched the misty cloud bloom and recede.

Asahi’s fingers were going numb pressed so hard against the frame. His feet were going numb, too – it felt like they were stuck in quickly solidifying concrete, and the sensation travelled quickly up his legs. His upper body was the total opposite; heart beating harder and chest heaving quicker than he thought would be healthy, muscles in his arms pulsing.

Images he was trying to push away flashed in his mind then. He saw Tanaka and Noya buried beneath the wreckage, both unconscious, with trickles of blood falling from their mouths and cuts and scrapes all over their bodies. How numb must his friends feel? They probably _couldn’t_ feel their legs, and here was Asahi, whose _head_ had convinced him that his feet were stuck in concrete, all because he was scared.

No. This wasn’t scared. This was panicking. He was undeniably terrified, but that wasn’t what was holding him back. He’d been swallowed up by anxiety before, but this was extreme. Never had he been in such a situation, one where his friends’ _lives_ were actually in danger.

And Asahi was the only one available to help them now. He realised that and it sent a wave of nausea through him.

He unclenched his hands and looked back out the window. There was nobody below. He had no idea where Hinata and Kageyama had ended up, but he hoped they’d left already, one of them sulking because they hadn’t been the first to grab the volleyball. The thought made Asahi smile slightly, and he could feel his panic sliding away then, ever so slowly.

Peeling back the layer of panic revealed the terror he felt.

It hit him again that Noya and Tanaka could be in serious trouble. They shouldn’t be there, not those two, who were always so energetic, their laughter loud and booming – they couldn’t be buried beneath this mess, fighting for breath.

Asahi gave a deep sigh. If he didn’t turn around and _do something_ , he’d never find out exactly what state his friends were in.

Before now he had kept back from the wreckage, staying closer to the window and squinting at the mess to see if he could spot a trainer or a jacket or a bag that belonged to one of his friends. It had been a terrible method, so Asahi stepped closer, crouching slightly.

He was cautious of moving anything. The debris was intertwined, so if he were to move one board a whole cabinet could shift and fall. He wouldn’t be able to get to his friends without moving things, though, so he carefully reached out to pull whatever came loose.

With his eyes almost closed, Asahi grabbed at a long, jagged board, and carefully tugged it away. He froze, listening carefully for some destructive chain reaction, but none came.

Feeling more confident, he stepped even closer forward.

That had been a mistake.

Asahi’s right foot broke through the wooden floor. His left knee smashed to the ground, his whole body crashing down with force as gravity dragged one leg under. A chair leg appeared hovering right in front of his vision, only centimetres from his nose.

 _This is it_ , he thought, panic now all that filled his mind. _We’re all done_.

This floor wouldn’t be able to take his weight. It was a mystery enough that the floor hadn’t caved in with the weight of the attic crashing onto it, but it had held – this would tip it over the edge.

 _I’ve failed. I couldn’t help. They’re relying on me to come and help, and I just_ failed.

Asahi’s breathing was going crazy again and he clutched at his shirt. _Any moment now_ , he kept telling himself. _The floor will crack, and I’ll be crushed under this mess, and so will my friends_. His other hand was hovering frozen in mid air, like it was poised to grab onto anything he could when the floor finally broke beneath him – as if it would help.

That moment never came though.

The floor was solid beneath him. The crack around his thigh was sharp and dug into his skin, but it held his weight.

Asahi listened carefully for a delayed crack, groan, a crash from above, even, but his ears caught something else.

There was something shifting nearby. Mumbling – definitely something mumbling, not the creaks and groans he’d heard so far. It was some _one_ mumbling.

It was Noya or Tanaka. Asahi was filled with hope and once again the panic slid away, and he was suddenly full of energy. He needed to free his leg first of all, which is where the majority of his effort went. The derbis was dangerously close, so he had to be slow and careful when pushing against the floor – which seemed strong everywhere but this one spot – and avoiding the mess around his head.

And then he was free, on his hands and knees beside the smaller hole in the floor; he was surprised he managed it so quickly. He stood slowly and looked around, listening carefully for the source of the mumbling.

Asahi tiptoed carefully to his left, back the way he’d come from earlier. The mumbling was faint, but grew louder this way, and before long Asahi spotted the debris shifting.

He dove forward and grabbed at the first piece of furniture – a chair – and yanked it away from the wreckage, placing it carefully on his right.

He genuinely almost cried when he saw black fabric poking through the debris. One of his friends was under there, and knowing that, Asahi was quick to move the rest of the furniture and broken ceiling to the side.

‘Tanaka,’ breathed Asahi, thrilled to pieces that his friend was alive – his chest was rising and falling slowly, and his eyelids fluttered at the sound of his name.

‘Mm…Asa…’ he mumbled back, looking curiously at Asahi. ‘Y…you’re bleeding?’

‘Oh, yeah,’ said a grinning Asahi, having totally forgotten about his knock to the head. ‘What about you?’

Tanaka tried to sit up, but found his left arm was trapped by a set a drawers. He cursed loudly, and Asahi was quick to shush him – but a plank fell from above anyway and hit the pile nearby. It was only then that Tanaka fully understood the situation he’d woken up to.

‘What the hell happened?’ Tanaka whispered through gritted teeth. His arm was in agony, though the rest of him felt fine, bar a throbbing headache.

‘T-the ceiling caved in, you must’ve hit your head…’ Asahi trailed off, moving forward to raise the cabinet and release Tanaka’s arm. Tanaka bit his lip to stop from yelling out, and as soon as he could move it, he pulled his arm tightly to his chest, which only hurt more.

Asahi tried to calm him down, but one look made him certain that Tanaka’s complaints were justified; his forearm was actually bent slightly out of place, and was clearly swollen.

‘It’s broken, isn’t it?!’ groaned Tanaka. He poked at his arm and jumped at the touch – even _that_ hurt.

Tanaka cursed again, but realized he shouldn’t go on and on about his injury at a time like this. Asahi, who stood over him, didn’t just have a cut to his head, he’d clearly been panicking himself. Tanaka could see his face was shining with sweat.

Tanaka sat up higher and looked around.

‘Where’s Noya?’ he asked quietly.

Asahi dropped his head in response. He didn’t even have to look up again for Tanaka to know what that meant – Noya was buried somewhere under there, too, waiting to be found.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! :) and thanks for the kudos and comments and bookmarks! <3  
> I'm actually really excited to get writing the next few events! There'll be less of me trying to work out seven ways to talk about how a house creaks, at least. I bet that's been tedious to read - sorry!  
> I feel pretty bad that this chapter is mostly Asahi on his own, it's a little deceiving of me. And I hope it wasn't boring :( Oh also I've never had a bad panic/anxiety attack before so probably didn't write Asahi's very well.  
> 


	6. Look up, Look down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Split POV again!  
> Hinata and Kageyama are balancing on a ledge.  
> Daichi and Suga are about to journey even further underground to find a way out.

With his head so close to the walls of the house, Kageyama still caught the groans and creaks from all over the place – purposely, it seemed, the house was making sure the noises reached Kageyama, making it impossible for him to concentrate on the serene sounds of the garden. Midday now, he could feel the sun beating down on his head, not burning but uncomfortable all the same. He felt like he needed to be out of the sun immediately, but how could he when he was balancing on a window ledge one storey up?

He took a deep breath before each step. Slow. Shaking. His chest shuddered as he exhaled, and he felt so unsteady his fingernails dug into the walls, not that they had much of a hold. Kageyama couldn’t move on until his breathing was steady, until he could be sure the same could be said for his feet.

When satisfied, he took another step. He was already far enough along the ledge that Hinata could fit on too. It was only from Hinata’s mumbles and huffs that Kageyama knew he was one step behind, unusually patient, Kageyama thought.

‘This is high!’ Hinata said. They were the first words Hinata had come out with yet. He said it in the same excited way he spoke about how large and impressive a gymnasium is upon first seeing it, as if their situation now had any similarities to that feeling. Kageyama knew Hinata couldn’t be _excited_ about what they were doing, but he wasn’t surprised Hinata found enough of a positive in their situation to use such a tone.

‘What did you expect?’ Kageyama mumbled back. Hinata had distracted his breathing. In fact, Hinata’s little outburst had more than simply distracted him – it was all he could do to not jump at the sound, and now his heart was bouncing around in his chest. Kageyama squeezed his eyes shut and forced himself to concentrate, making sure he kept the rest of him still even if his insides couldn’t manage it.

‘Huh?’ Hinata asked loudly, having not heard Kageyama, who refused to turn his head away from his destination.

‘ _Nothing_ ,’ Kageyama hissed. ‘Shut up!’ He opened his eyes again and took a deep breath, glancing sideways, which was a mistake. He’d only wanted to glare at Hinata, in a way that he did so often now, but he barely caught a glimpse of the redhead. Instead his eyes fell on the ground below.

The concrete was spinning. Broken glass and weeds melded together like the image in a kaleidoscope, the cracks of the concrete like forks of lightning caught as they strike, invading the image from six angles. The edge of Kageyama’s view blurred and darkened, the murky kaleidoscopic picture clear and focused only in the centre of his vision.

He snapped his head back up, eyes locked again on the window ledge he needed to reach.

Hinata, oblivious to those few seconds Kageyama had been hypnotized by the ground below, gave a _tch_ but said nothing further.

They said nothing else to each other for a few minutes. The rest of the house was quiet, too, but Kageyama pushed even the lack of sound from his mind so he could concentrate fully. He was one step away from the next windowsill. His fingers caught ahold of the window frame, and he held on tightly as he tested the sill, which seemed to hold his weight just fine. With a victorious sigh, he climbed onto the ledge with both feet and reached out for the other side of the window frame.

‘Can you see anything through the window?’ asked Hinata.

‘N-no, there’s no point,’ he replied quickly. He wasn’t bothered about the next room. He wasn’t going back in that house even if there were an elevator in there that could take them safely back to the ground.

‘The others might be in there,’ Hinata pushed.

‘They went upstairs,’ said Kageyama, gritting his teeth. He knew Hinata had an amazing level of concentration, why wasn’t he using that now? They could be down quickly and safely, without daft distractions, if they both concentrated.

It’s not that Kageyama didn’t care about their teammates. He really did, but they would have known if they were in the next room. They were elsewhere in the house, and Kageyama just had to hope they had a way out that’s a lot safer than theirs.

He decided to block Hinata out as he made his next step. He had reached the other side of the window – half way back to the ground now. Still, he wouldn’t look anywhere but his destination.

His left foot came to the very end of the windowsill, his right hovering over the next narrow ledge. With a deep breath he put his foot down, and exhaled thankfully when it held.

But it only held for a second.

‘Kageyama!’

The white chunk of wood below his foot tumbled to the floor, and Kageyama almost went with it. He fell forward instinctively following his footstep, but his grip on the window frame was tight enough to hold him in place, foot still hovering where the ledge had dropped.

That gap might as well be the Grand Canyon. It felt to Kageyama that he was stood on the edge of an uneven, rocky cliff face with a deep pit of darkness ready to swallow him up, and he was already falling forward.

In reality it was about a foot in length. Nonetheless, the view didn’t look pretty. Kageyama was forced to look down this time. The plank lay on the ground amongst the weeds at the base of the house, not too far from the volleyball that Hinata had thrown out the window before they began to climb. Again, the ground was spinning, and a dizzy Kageyama couldn’t look away as quickly this time.

‘Kageyama!’ Hinata said again to get his attention. Kageyama felt Hinata’s grip on the edge of his shirt sleeve. He must’ve grabbed at him when the plank fell.

It hadn’t snapped – the whole plank had been loose, and Kageyama’s foot had dislodged it, causing it to tumble to the concrete. Kageyama worried now how unsteady the rest of the ledge was, if that piece fell so quickly. He slowly raised his gaze and saw how it was stuck into the wall, not knowing for sure if it was secure or not. The sill beneath him might not be so secure either. How long had he been stood there? More than seconds, which was all it took for the plank to fall. Minutes? How many minutes? How many more did they have?

‘ _Kageyama_ ,’ he hissed this time. ‘Are you OK?’ Hinata shook the sleeve slightly, and Kageyama’s grip on the window frame tightened as if he’d been pushed off.

That’s when Kageyama noticed how rushed his breathing had become. His breaths sounded raspy, and his chest moved so much Kageyama worried the motion might make the sill dislodge, too. He felt sweat trickling down his back, and glanced upward to the sky with a glare. It wasn’t the sun causing him to sweat; it was the panic, the fear.

He shuffled quickly on his left foot to make room for his right on the ledge. When both feet were firmly on the sill again, he flattened himself against the window, clutching at whatever he could to stay secure.

The world around him darkened, literally, as grey clouds swarmed and blocked out the sun. Kageyama shivered as a chilly breeze swept across the trees at the edge of the garden.

‘Hey,’ said Hinata, a little softer than before. ‘K-Kageyama, it’s OK.’ He still held his sleeve between two fingers. ‘Aren’t you going to say anything?’

Kageyama couldn’t. He was frozen now – his best chance of not falling to the concrete below. He tried to convince himself that it was OK, that he wasn’t even that high even if he did fall, but other thoughts swallowed him up. It was just a matter of time before the sill beneath him snapped too, just like the rest of this _stupid_ house he’d been forced into, and he’d crash to the floor.

 

* * *

 

Daichi slowly lowered his legs into the square opening in the kitchen floor, and both he and Suga flinched when his feet hit something. Suga grabbed for the torch and shone light at the space, only to find that, thankfully, it was just a set of thick wooden steps that lead down to the cellar. They’d been reluctant to illuminate the space so far – what if this _wasn’t_ an exit? What if they couldn’t see the bottom even with the torch? Time was running out, though, so Daichi had taken the lead.

It wasn’t deep. The dark steps creaked as they descended, and each screech had the boys stopping, turning to check the house wouldn’t collapse at the complaint. They were very aware that they’d put themselves right at the base of the house, the lowest level, with an entire manor house slowly crumbling above their heads.

Suga’s chest felt tight. Every step needed extra effort and concentration, and he had to keep blinking his vision clear as his view started to spin. He took one last glance at the kitchen through the square hole and drew a shaking breath. The kitchen was dark, but the cellar was darker; they couldn’t see far at all with the pitiful torchlight. Suga had handed it to Daichi already as he led the way, and Suga stayed close behind him.

‘There has to be a cellar door leading outside,’ said Daichi quietly, turning on the spot to shine the torch in each direction.

They squinted but saw no doors, and no walls – all they saw were barrels and crates and cobwebs.

‘I don’t remember seeing one,’ sighed Suga, mentally piecing together fragments of the house and its surroundings that he could remember from when they arrived. There was a patio at the back of the house – Suga definitely remembered hopping around the furniture scattered around. There was a battered old greenhouse, too, to the left. The view from the kitchen window that he could remember consisted of identical trees and bushes. Suga wasn’t even sure of their bearings any more. He’d lost track of which way they’d turned once inside that maze of a house. He definitely didn’t remember a cellar door poking out anywhere.

Daichi sighed. ‘I’m going to kill whoever decided to come here.’

To his surprise, Suga laughed. Loudly. Daichi glanced behind and smiled a little, raising an eyebrow. Both of them seemed glad to see a proper smile on Suga’s face again – anything before, in the kitchen, after the collapse, had been obviously fake. Suga had been trying to stay positive, even though he knew Daichi had quickly caught on that he was forcing it.

They both felt better at that moment. Hearing Daichi sounding like his usual self helped to bring out the hope in them – that, yes, Daichi _would_ get the chance to throttle whichever idiot decided playing in a derelict house was a good idea, and those who followed would get an earful, too.

‘Don’t be too hard on them, will you?’ Suga grinned, slapping Daichi on the back.

Daichi almost made a further comment, about how they’d have to get out of the cellar first, but that would have ruined the mood. So he just smiled and looked around again. ‘Now, which way?’

Daichi chose a direction at random. If they could at least reach a wall they’d eventually get to a door, providing it hadn’t already been buried along with their other escape routes. He carried on forward, waving the torch up and down so they could navigate between the crates.

The ceiling was low, but not so low that Daichi couldn’t stand up straight. He did have to duck though, usually at the last second, when the beams and wooden supports appeared in front of him through the dark. The supports were obviously old and didn’t look very sturdy, but Daichi had to hope they’d hold. At least the ceiling seemed strong enough.

His gaze lingered on the contents of the cellar only for split seconds. They needed to be quick and he couldn’t get distracted by barrels of wine and dusty crates. He did think that, if there was no escape for them, at least they’d be able to taste this aged wine before they were crushed for good.

He sighed at the thought. He couldn’t even tell if he was joking or not now.

‘Ow!’ he cried out. Daichi, distracted by his own thoughts, had missed one of the beams and had walked right into it, so he was hit with a fresh wave of pain on the right side of his face where he already had a sore gash. ‘Watch that one, Suga,’ he muttered and heard Suga stifle a laugh.

Before long they reached a wall. It was icy cold and Daichi recoiled at the touch, shivering as he realized how cold the cellar was. It was a warm day but the house took in no heat; it was all part of its eerie atmosphere, a sign of its age.

The boys would have split up to search for an exit in both directions, but they didn’t want to get separated, though neither voiced it. Daichi carried on along the wall leading in whichever direction he thought best. After several minutes of slow shuffling, and having to take a diversion around a stack of barrels blocking the wall, the torchlight illuminated a set of steps.

‘Finally!’ Daichi called out. He shone the torch upward and saw a wide, square hatch in the ceiling. Then it disappeared; the torchlight flickered out, and then flashed on again for half a second. ‘Oh, not now!’ Daichi grumbled. The battery was finally dying out on Suga’s broken phone, and his own was so low that the phone wouldn’t _let_ him use the torch.

‘We’ve found a way out now,’ Suga said, a hand on Daichi’s shoulder. ‘We just need to get the door open.’ He pushed past Daichi and took the torch.

One of the steps lower down was broken, but Suga quickly skipped over it and put his hand to the metal door above his head. The light was flickering so much now that it was hardly of any use, so Suga put it on the step beside him and used his hands to blindly search the door.

He pushed against it but it didn’t budge much. There was no lock that he could feel along the crack in the centre; it was just old and rusty. He peered closer at the crack and, though he hoped he wasn’t imagining it, he saw light from outside. He smiled gladly, knowing now this _was_ a way out, and only a thin bit of metal stood in their way.

He stepped down to the next stair and steadied his feet, and put himself at an angle to the door. The light was gone now, only occasionally giving a feeble flash. Suga would prefer if it’d die altogether now. He took a breath and jumped to the side as hard as he dared, banging his shoulder into the door.

‘Suga!’ scolded Daichi. ‘Be careful!’

Suga’s feet landed safely back on the stair, and he winced at the pain of his shoulder.

‘Did you see that? That light?’ Suga asked, ignoring Daichi’s glare through the dark. He’d seen the crack opening ever so slightly, and white light shone onto the stairs for a second. ‘We’re nearly out!’ He grinned and was able to forget the pain in his shoulder as he hit the door again, and again, each time a sliver of light cutting through the darkness of the cellar.

It didn’t grow bigger, though; the door wouldn’t budge very far.  

Daichi had stood back so far, but Suga was getting tired now. No matter how determined he was, it took a lot of energy to do this. ‘Suga, let me try,’ he said, unfolding his arms and climbing the first step.

‘Not yet.’

‘Suga–’

‘It’s nearly there!’ Suga shot back. Another hit. That’s all they needed. Another really strong hit.

Suga took a deep breath and felt sweat dripping down the side of his head. His arm felt like it was on fire; the pain had travelled from his shoulder down his arm and across his back, and it was making its way to his head. He steadied his feet on the steps, then jumped at the cellar door again.  

 _This one will do it_ , he thought.

He didn’t hear the hinges breaking or the metal doors bursting open. He heard the same dull, metallic thud that told him it still wasn’t enough. The door was still shut.

‘Dammit,’ Suga muttered, knowing even as his shoulder hit that it hadn’t been enough. As he fell back down onto the steps, his foot slipped, and suddenly Suga was tumbling down the stairs.

‘Suga!’ Daichi shouted, too slow to catch him.

Suga groaned from the bottom of the stairs. He’d landed upside down, on his right side, and his head had hit the ground hard. ‘I just slipped,’ he called out at the sound of Daichi’s frantic footsteps. ‘I’m OK. Your turn,’ he sighed as he sat himself up.

With Suga, upright again, sat resting on the stairs, Daichi jumped at the door repeatedly, swapping sides whenever he got sore. Neither took count of how long they’d been trying; that would have been depressing. It was long enough that Suga began to shiver at the cold of the cellar.

‘D-do you think the o-others are oka-ay?’ Suga asked through chattering teeth.

Daichi panted, resting to catch his breath and recover from the pain. ‘I bet they’re already out,’ he said, not really believing it but wanting to reassure Suga.

‘Then s-s-shout for help.’

Daichi shook his head and looked toward the ceiling. He couldn’t see anything in the dark, but he could remember how much of a mess the kitchen was. ‘This place isn’t stable enough.’

‘Daichi,’ Suga sighed, turning to his friend. ‘Your shoulder is wrecked through d-doing that; stop and just shout for help.’

Daichi’s body agreed with Suga. He had no energy left to give. That door wouldn’t budge. Part of him kept thinking that _yes, this next hit will surely do it_ … but he’d been thinking that for ages already. Their last resort was to shout for help, so he took a deep breath and yelled out, ‘HELP!’ He listened silently for a few minutes afterward, and heard no crashes across the house, so he shouted again. Suga slowly shuffled backward up the stairs and sat close to the door, shouting along with Daichi, hoping their friends _were_ safely out and would come to their rescue.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was going to be longer, with a second H/K POV, but I just really wanted to update!  
> Thanks for reading!


	7. The Rescuers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Going back to Hinata and Kageyama on the window ledge - Hinata has to try to get them both to safety before Kageyama loses it entirely.  
> And help arrives, as the title suggests!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I put more effort into the H/K chapters, in case you haven't already sussed that, so I hope you enjoy this one! I think it does seem a little rushed in places, but that's because I was aware of the word count getting so high!  
> Thanks for being such supportive readers!  
> Oh and a little warning, I mention the glass and their injuries from earlier again briefly.

Again, Hinata held Kageyama’s clothing in his grasp, but his grip was looser now, his arm hanging limply. Like last time, he wasn’t going to let go until Kageyama was out of danger, and though they were balancing on a very questionable ledge on the outside of a crumbling building, it looked like the biggest danger to Kageyama was himself.

Kageyama wasn’t responding to anything Hinata said. Hinata was cautious of moving at all now – he’d just shook the sleeve of his shirt and Kageyama reacted like he was doomed, and flattened himself against the house. No matter how many times Hinata said his name – even if he said it repeatedly and annoyingly, like his sister often would if she wanted his attention and he was busy – Kageyama didn’t snap at him or growl, and that really worried Hinata.

‘Come on, Kageyama,’ Hinata tried again. He dropped his softer tone and went for annoyed and impatient. ‘We can’t stand up here all day!’ Hinata was unsure whether or not he should move closer or further from Kageyama. The go-to choice was to get the hell away from him, but Hinata didn’t feel like he was looking at the same Kageyama anymore.

Kageyama, unsurprisingly, didn’t respond. His breathing didn’t change, his chest rising and falling rapidly like it had been already for five minutes.

Hinata knew of one thing that could always allow Kageyama to push himself to achieve any goal: a challenge from Hinata. How many times had they challenged each other to a race and both put in maximum effort to win? No matter how tired, Kageyama always agreed to it. Even today they’d done it – he’d known Kageyama couldn’t resist the challenge of who would be first to reach the volleyball in the spooky old house, and they’d both been so eager to win that they’d ignored their surroundings and ended up with glass embedded in their skin.

There was no way Hinata could do that to him, though. Kageyama obviously wasn’t in any state to push away everything else around him and pick up a challenge. In theory, it’d distract him from the terror of the window ledge breaking, but Hinata supposed he’d still not find the courage to move on. Kageyama’s gaze was fixed on their destination, but it was one they’d likely never reach.

Hinata’s bandages itched. There was little pain from his injuries, but he could feel the wounds throbbing now they had his attention. Hinata appreciated that Kageyama had been so calm and actually patient when he’d bandaged the cuts – not that he’d admit that. And he hoped Kageyama wouldn’t mention that Hinata was scared of the big shard that had been stuck in his arm; he knew Tsukishima would have a lot to say about that.

Part of Hinata was surprised at his next thought – that he was glad Tsukishima and, particularly, Yamaguchi hadn’t gone along with them. The former would have been a useless bore, probably staying on the patio, and the latter would have been a mess if he went inside. Had Tsukishima been there, though, sitting on the patio listening to his music, he’d be available to help. The captain and Sugawara, too, would be useful to have around, but he was glad they hadn’t gone along and got themselves stuck in this mess.

All they had was Tanaka, Noya and Asahi, who hadn’t been heard of in ages now. Hinata just had to focus on Kageyama and himself, and then see where everyone else was.

Hinata would have called someone for help, but his phone battery had reached so low that it wouldn’t even try to get signal any more. It was his fault for sending that photograph earlier, and forgetting to charge it last night after he’d been up chatting with Kenma.

He glanced at the ground. The drop didn’t look inviting, but it wasn’t scary to Hinata. He wondered if they’d really injure themselves that badly if they jumped. Would Kageyama follow if Hinata jumped? That seemed unlikely. The boy was clearly terrified where he was, there’s little chance he’d move in any direction he didn’t know to be safe.

Perhaps that’s the answer, thought Hinata. The only direction they knew to be safe was the direction they’d come from. Going back into the bedroom would be like siding down a snake in snakes and ladders, but it’s better than a ladder breaking and sending them tumbling to the concrete. Or maybe the room next door would be better – they were already at the window, it could be easy to get in there. At least it would be a bit safer.

Carefully, Hinata shuffled along a little and peered into the next room. It was dark, and he supposed it was smaller than the room they’d been trapped in. The door on the left was closed, and he couldn’t tell the state of the hallway beyond. The ceiling was in tact, though, and that was enough for Hinata.

Kageyama was blocking the hatch on the window. It was inside, and Hinata would be fine smashing the glass to get at it, but he didn’t think Kageyama would move aside.

‘Kageyama,’ said Hinata, deciding he needed to tell him the plan anyway; if he were to smash the glass without telling him, Kageyama might have a heart attack. ‘I’m going to break into this window so we can get inside.’

‘W…what?’ Kageyama hissed. _Finally_ , thought Hinata. ‘Why?’ Kageyama was slowly moving now, just his arms and shoulders, and his head twisted to the side ever so slightly. It made Hinata smile.

‘You’re obviously not going to move, so we’ll have to go back inside,’ he shrugged.

‘We’re not going inside,’ Kageyama snapped quickly.

‘Why not?’

‘It’s falling apart!’ he shouted, turning his head all the way to face Hinata, dark blue eyes wide and commanding.

Hinata stood tall against his glare. ‘Yeah, so either you hurry up and move, or we go back inside and wait for help!’

Kageyama still had a tight grip on the wall and the window frame. His body was still angled toward their destination. Hinata waited, staring right back at his stubborn teammate. Any moment now Kageyama would huff and turn around, and make the first step along that ledge, just to prove a point to Hinata. They’d be back on the ground in no time!

He waited for a few minutes though with no changes. Kageyama glared at him still, and Hinata sensed more than just anger and stubbornness. He wouldn’t call it fear but… Kageyama really didn’t want to carry on along that ledge, and perhaps that outweighed his want to never go back in that house.

Reluctantly, Hinata looked away from Kageyama and let go of his shirt. It was decided, then: they’ll go back inside.

Hinata didn’t expect it’d be easy to lead Kageyama back to the room they came from, so it was the better choice to go through this window. Hinata shuffled to his left, further from Kageyama and his annoyed glare. He was no longer on the window ledge, which had felt safer even though they were both on it. Now Hinata’s heels were all he could fit on the thin ledge, as Hinata had flattened his back against the wall and looked out over the garden. He took a deep breath. He needed to be steady enough that he could untie his jacket from his waist, and then he could use that to wrap around his hand and smash through the window.

He felt annoyed now that Kageyama had turned his head this way. Feeling his eyes watching him was unnerving. Hinata flexed his toes a little, testing his shoes' grip on the ledge, and he hardly wobbled at all. He then fixed his gaze on the tips of the trees at the edge of the garden, and quickly untied the loose knot of his jacket, but caught it before it could drop behind him. The tricky part was getting it from behind him, so he did so slowly, holding the window frame with his right hand and pulling the jacket with his left, keeping his weight on his heels.

Once he’d got the jacket free, he sighed with relief and looked to Kageyama, who looked no different. Hinata flashed a big grin, and felt his left foot slipping on the ledge.

‘Gahhh!’ he shouted as he scrambled to hold onto the frame, madly swinging his foot around. His right foot began to feel loose, too, so he panicked even more. Getting his left back up onto the ledge probably felt like more of an ordeal than it was, but Hinata soon had his toes back on the ledge and from there he was able to steady himself once more, sighing with relief this time.

He turned again to Kageyama, whose face was white. His mouth had dropped open and his eyes were darting all over the place, jumping from the ground to Hinata’s feet and the narrow ledge. When he caught Hinata looking at him, he promptly closed his mouth and narrowed his eyes. ‘Dumbass!’ Kageyama yelled.

‘What’s he done this time?’ called out a bored voice. It was faint but loud enough to be heard, and that was intentional.

‘Tsukishima!’ Hinata yelled, letting out a laugh. Over at the far edge of the garden, the bushes were rustling and a hand swept away the branches to reveal the other two first years. ‘Yamaguchi! I have never been so happy to see you two!’

‘Charming,’ Tsukishima muttered.

‘What are you doing up there?!’ Yamaguchi cried, running right over to them whilst Tsukishima followed, no urgency to his pace.

‘The house is collapsing!’ Hinata shouted. ‘We were trapped and the only way out was the window!’

‘So what’s the problem?’ Tsukishima asked. He’d already spotted the small roof jutting out from the house, just behind the greenhouse, and knew it’d probably be their best bet. Though he did wonder how long it took for the pair to work that out.

Hinata looked to Kageyama. He was pouting and avoiding looking toward Tsukishima. _Jeez_ , even at a time like this Kageyama’s reluctant to get help from Tsukishima, thought Hinata. ‘The ledge isn’t safe,’ Hinata called back.

Tsukishima tilted his head to the side and grinned a little. ‘Have you tried flying?’

Hinata frowned. Though glad they’d turned up, they didn’t have to be so rude.

Yamaguchi didn’t follow Tsukishima’s comment like he usually did though, and when Hinata looked down he saw Yamaguchi in a proper panic, jumping around on the patio and trying to work out the best way to get them down.

‘Yamaguchi,’ said Tsukishima, and Yamaguchi immediately stopped flailing around to turn to his friend. ‘Stack some of this furniture on top of each other so they can get down,’ he instructed.

‘R-right, Tsukki!’

Hinata sighed again and smiled, looking toward Kageyama. He looked terrified at the thought of having to climb down old patio furniture, so Hinata decided he wouldn’t go down until Kageyama had got safely to the ground again. At least he didn’t need to smash the glass now, but Hinata still had his jacket wrapped loosely around his left arm.

Yamaguchi tripped a couple of times carrying chairs and tables across the garden, so Tsukishima helped after a few minutes. They first stacked a table and then began working out how best to arrange the rusty old chairs so they would be sturdy. Kageyama would have to be the first down now; the only good place to stack the furniture close to the house was to the right of him, underneath where the plank had fallen.

‘Enjoying the view?’ Tsukishima called.

He was addressing Kageyama, and Kageyama knew it. Hinata frowned. Now really isn’t the time for Tsukishima to be coming out with his King nonsense. Kageyama huffed and kept his gaze away from the ground.

Tsukishima carried on, though. ‘Is that ledge really so unsteady? Or is it not good enough to hold the weight of his Majesty,’ he mocked.

‘ _Shut up_!’ Kageyama yelled. At least his face had a little colour again.  

Hinata saw Yamaguchi glance at Tsukishima, and the taller boy frowned. ‘It’s fine, Yamaguchi. The King’s obviously having a hard time up there.’

‘I am not!’ said Kageyama, defiant as always when it came to his taller classmate.

‘Oh really? Come down and prove it.’

A chill ran through Hinata, and he smiled, because he’d just witnessed Tsukishima trying to help Kageyama, one he so often ridiculed and put down. Tsukishima knew what he was doing with those words – in his own way, at least he was clearly trying as much as the others. Hinata hoped Kageyama’s stubbornness might just allow him to try harder this time to prove Tsukishima, of all people, wrong.

Kageyama huffed again. He looked to his left, to where Hinata was, and narrowed his eyes further. ‘What are you smiling about?’

Hinata grinned brighter. ‘We’re not going to let you fall, Kageyama.’

Hinata’s own words from earlier rang through his mind then.

 _‘Because you don’t have anyone to talk to!’_ he’d told Kageyama, when Kageyama was distracting him from the pain of the shard of glass stuck in his arm. That probably wasn’t a fair thing to say. It might even be the reason why Kageyama was so quiet and still just now, reluctant to let Hinata know he wasn’t OK.

Kageyama just grunted. His fingernails dug deeper into the wood of the window frame.

The air was still cold, but Hinata had more hope in him, so the grey clouds didn’t bother his mood. Yamaguchi’s furniture stack was coming along nicely, and he was testing it to show Kageyama how little it shook; Hinata knew that soon they’d all be down and able to help the others, wherever they are; and the narrow ledge was wobbling under his feet…

Wait.

Hinata had been bouncing on his heels without realising, a habit really. The whole ledge was wobbling, leading right from where they’d started to where Hinata stood now – right on the edge.

Before Hinata could give any sort of warning to the others, the ledge dipped and Hinata began to fall forward. His hands shot to the side to grab onto anything they could, but Hinata was already falling out of reach.

He wasn’t sure if any words, or any incomprehensible garbled noise, left his mouth as he fell, because all he could hear was a _whoosh_ of air as he travelled the couple of seconds to the ground, landing with a _thud_ that echoed in his ears.

‘Hinata!’ cried Yamaguchi.

It had happened so quickly. Hinata hardly had time to register the falling, and he was slow to feel the pain bursting through his body. His eyes fluttered open and he saw green leaves surrounding him; he’d landed in the sparse, prickly bushes at the base of the house. Though it wasn’t a cushioned landing, it was enough that Hinata hadn’t hit solid concrete, but hard, cold soil and spiky branches.

‘Are you OK, Hinata?’ asked a frantic Yamaguchi, crouched right in front of him. Tsukishima stood over him, blocking the light.

‘I…I think so…’ Hinata mumbled. He didn’t feel as awful as he’d expected. His left leg hurt like mad, and there was pain shooting up his back and left side, and tiny scratches on his skin stung, but he generally felt a lot better feeling the ground firmly beneath him. He looked up at the house and the distance he’d just fallen – even at this angle, it didn’t look as high as it had from up there.

Kageyama was still on the window ledge. His knees were bent, but his hands still held tight to the window frame. He was staring wide-eyed at Hinata on the ground, and it was the first time his face didn’t have a green tinge to it when he looked down.

Yamaguchi and Tsukishima helped Hinata stand. Yamaguchi was squealing about his leg maybe being broken, but it didn’t feel that way to Hinata; it hurt to stand on but the bones felt in tact. It wasn’t twisted and, to prove to Yamaguchi that he really was fine, he shuffled around the patio for a bit, wincing only a little at the pain that ran all the way to his hip.

Hinata looked to Kageyama and called out ‘I’m OK!’ It didn’t look like it reassured Kageyama much.

‘Well your feet are made of springs,’ shrugged Tsukishima with a sigh. ‘Stay sat down though,’ he advised. ‘Or you’ll just do more damage.’

Hinata obeyed and sat on the patio, watching Yamaguchi fumbling with the furniture again. The structure seemed to hold and Yamaguchi stood back. It didn’t reach Kageyama’s feet, it was only a little taller than Tsukishima, and Yamaguchi knew that he’d probably have to either sit on or hang off the window ledge to reach it safely.

At exactly the wrong moment, Tsukishima called out, ‘I’ll be back in a minute, Yamaguchi.’

‘T-tsukki!’ Yamaguchi said, but Tsukishima disappeared. Yamaguchi couldn’t leave the others, but he couldn’t exactly _help_ them either. He’d only gone along to the house – and dragged Tsukki with him – because it looked like fun. _This_ was not fun. He hadn’t even had time to ask after their other teammates. He hoped that’s what Tsukki had gone to look for.

Yamaguchi looked toward Kageyama, high up on the ledge and terrified. How was he going to convince him to get down?

He took a deep breath. ‘Kageyama,’ said Yamaguchi. His voice shook quite obviously, but he was as loud and commanding as he could manage. ‘Y-you’re going to have to reach down to get to the chairs.’

Kageyama shook his head. ‘It’s too far,’ he called back.

‘You’ll need to sit down on the ledge to get to them! It’ll be OK, you just have to be careful!’

‘Hinata fell. If I move I’ll fall too,’ Kageyama said quietly, only just loud enough.

‘I’m a dumbass, remember?’ Hinata called, which received an angry ‘ _YES_!’ from Kageyama.

‘Hinata, that’s not helping,’ moaned Yamaguchi, who watched Kageyama’s feet twisting slightly as he yelled.

‘He’s not going to come down that way, Yamaguchi,’ said Hinata. ‘If he can break through that window, though, at least he’d be off the ledge – suggest that to him.’

‘Why can’t you…’ but Yamaguchi saw why. Hinata’s usually wide, bright eyes were droopy, and his shoulders slumped. ‘Hinata?!’ Yamaguchi jumped to his side, shaking. Had he hit his head? Is he going to faint? Hinata got blows to the head all of the time in volleyball, maybe he’d reached his limit!

‘I’m fine. Hurts a bit, is all,’ he slurred. ‘Just get that jerk into the house.’

Yamaguchi gulped. He was the only one to help now that Tsukki had disappeared and Hinata was recovering. Somehow he needed to get Kageyama into that room.

‘K-kageyama, c-can you roll down your sleeves and smash that window with your elbow?’ he suggested.

He seemed reluctant to release his grip at all, even if it meant he could get to the window. Yamaguchi thought he looked a lot better than when they’d arrived – then he looked as if he was going to be sick, but now he was concentrating more and co-operating a little with them. Perhaps it was seeing Hinata fall, knowing that it isn’t a death drop, even though Hinata is very much not himself right now. ‘R-right…’ Kageyama replied, slowly moving his arm a little so he could pull his other sleeve down. He wobbled a little, and his hand swung back to hold onto the frame, but he’d managed it.

Yamaguchi grinned, but saw Kageyama’s face pale again. His smile dropped and Yamaguchi turned serious, so he took a deep breath. ‘Look, Kageyama, I know you’re scared up there. The sooner you’re back in the house, the safer you’ll be.’

‘The house is collapsing,’ said Kageyama through gritted teeth. He had his eyes closed again and was steadying his breathing.

Yamaguchi shrugged. ‘It’s still safer than where you are now,’ he decided. They couldn’t _know_ the house was safer, but Kageyama was really struggling on that ledge. ‘We’ll get you out safely once you’re back inside!’

Kageyama huffed and looked away from Yamaguchi. He supposed he was deciding. Yamaguchi put his attention back on Hinata, who’d been unnervingly quiet. He was OK though – still awake, his eyes droopy, but he grinned up at Yamaguchi reassuringly.

‘Yamaguchi,’ Kageyama called, and Yamaguchi jumped.

‘Y-yeah?’

‘What do I do?’

Yamaguchi smiled. He hoped it was his words that had helped. ‘Erm… move to your left a bit,’ he said, gesturing with his hands. He saw the window wasn’t entirely glass, but had two panels separated by wood. Could Kageyama fit through any of those? And at such an angle, would he be able to get in safely?

‘There’s a hook inside to open the window,’ Hinata called up. ‘It’s on your right!’

‘I know that!’ Kageyama shouted back.

Yamaguchi sighed, glad that getting him into the room looked easier now. He just had to smash the glass, unhook the latch, and open the window… that part could be hardest, given that Kageyama was stood in front of it with no thin ledge on either side to stand on.

He looked around then, wondering where Tsukki had gone.

 

* * *

 

Shortly before Hinata had fallen, Tsukishima had heard something elsewhere in the garden. He listened out for the noise again once Hinata was sat down and Yamaguchi was looking after Kageyama – Tsukki didn’t think he was in the best hands, but he would rather not have to be the one to deal with Kageyama.

He left them to it and moved around the garden, listening out for the noise on the other side of the greenhouse. The whole area was quiet and still for several minutes as Tsukishima carefully stepped around the weeds and debris, but kept close to the side of the house.

He came across part of the house that had completely collapsed. The bottom floor wall had fallen, and the debris piled up, from what Tsukishima could see. The floors above still stood, but they really didn’t look sturdy. Hesitantly, he stepped closer, hoping the noises he heard weren’t shouts from his teammates trapped in _that_.

It was a shout that he could hear. Some of the time. There was a banging too, like a drumbeat, which had caught his attention. It was a heavy, metallic sound, and it took a while before Tsukishima even came close to the source.

‘Hello?’ he called out. ‘Is someone there?’

Tsukishima didn’t even entertain the possibility this place was haunted. That was Hinata’s ridiculous speculation. Whatever noises he could hear weren’t supernatural; it was probably Tanaka, Noya or Asahi, whom Kageyama and Hinata hadn’t mentioned at all yet.

The banging didn’t get any louder, but he could hear it constantly now.

‘Hello?’ he called louder.

The banging stopped. Instead came shouts, the word _help_ distinguishable enough though muffled. Tsukishima hurried over to the source of the sound at the base of the house, but only found knotted weeds.

His shoes clanged against something on the floor as he walked around. He kicked at the weeds with his foot and saw rusty metal beneath the knots – the banging came much louder after he tapped against it.

The voices were louder, too.

‘Let us out!’

‘Help!’

Tsukishima knelt down and began tearing at the weeds. The thorns pricked his hands so he pulled his sleeves down to act as a barrier, but it made it harder to rip apart the tough branches and knots. Soon he’d revealed a large patch of rusty, mud covered metal, which shook as someone banged against it from underneath.

There was nothing blocking the handles that stuck out from the metal, and there was no lock. If the doors still wouldn’t budge, Tsukishima supposed it must be the hinges, so he dug further into the weeds to rid the hinges of one door of the overgrown plants.

Whoever was trapped under the door continued to bang against it, and the crack of the opening grew larger.

Tsukishima smiled. He wrapped a both hands around the nearest door handle and pulled backwards. The door really was stiff, but Tsukishima could feel it shifting as the others pushed and banged against it, and before long the door burst open.

The force knocked Tsukishima backward into the thicker weeds, and he felt the sharp barbs cut his skin. He complained and stood up, shaking his clothes from the grasp of the thorns and fixing his glasses so they weren’t crooked.

‘Tsukishima!’ a voice cried. He looked up to see Sugawara’s head pop up from behind the now open cellar door. He hadn't expected to see him there, but didn't question it - after all, he and Yamaguchi had turned up later than the others, so he supposed they'd joined the group later on. Sugawara laughed as he pulled himself out of the hole. He staggered over to Tsukishima and punched his arm lightly. ‘I’m so glad you’re here!’

Then Suga turned back to the cellar door and held out his left hand to help Daichi out. Daichi was squinting at the drastic change from dark underground to the white skies, but he was smiling.

‘Thank goodness you showed up!’ he grinned. ‘We’ve been shouting for ages now.’

‘Is Yamaguchi with you? Is he OK?’ asked Suga.

‘Yeah,’ replied Tsukishima. ‘He’s helping Kageyama and Hinata.’

Tsukishima said nothing more as he helped the captain out of the hole. Both he and Sugawara looked pretty bad, maybe worse than Hinata, who looked OK despite his bandaged arms and bag leg. Suga was using his left arm to pull Daichi out, and Tsukishima had to hook under Daichi’s right arm to pull him out – even touching his arms seemed to hurt him. He guessed they’d been banging their shoulders against the door to get out. Daichi also had a nasty graze across one side of his face, but it didn’t seem to be bothering him.

As Daichi flopped to the ground to rest, and Suga dropped down beside him, there was a faint sound of glass cracking, and all heads turned back to the direction of the greenhouse.

Suga sat up. ‘What was that?’

‘Probably Kageyama,’ Tsukishima shrugged.

‘What do you mean?’ asked Daichi.

Tsukishima explained, briefly, the situation with Kageyama and Hinata, and both third years jumped up before he’d finished talking. Suga jogged toward the back of the house ahead of them.

‘Where are the others?’ Daichi asked Tsukishima as they hurried along at a fast walk. ‘Asahi, Tanaka and Noya?’

‘Haven’t seen them,’ he shrugged. ‘We’ve only just got here.’

Around the corner, Suga spotted Yamaguchi and Hinata both on the ground. Yamaguchi was leaning his hands against the stack of patio furniture, looking upward at the house, and Hinata was sat on the floor.

‘Hinata! Are you OK?’ he shouted, running over to him.

‘Eh? What are you doing here?’

‘We got trapped in the kitchen and had to escape through the cellar,’ Suga explained quickly. ‘How’s your leg?’

‘Fine!’ lied Hinata, standing up even as Suga protested. His leg really did feel a lot better, but he knew if he started jumping or running he’d probably fall over. ‘Kageyama!’ he called. ‘Sugawara and the captain are here!’

Suga looked upward to where Hinata was shouting. He couldn’t see a trace of Kageyama. All he saw was an open window, the glass of one panel smashed. ‘Kageyama?’

No noise came from above them, and Suga frowned.

‘C-captain, what happened to your face?!’ cried Yamaguchi as Tsukishima and Daichi turned the corner.

Suga joined Daichi, but kept looking back at the open window. ‘Daichi, Kageyama’s stuck in the house still.’

‘He got scared when he was stood on the ledge,’ Hinata explained. ‘So we thought he’d be safer back inside, but now he’s not talking to us.’

Daichi sighed. ‘What about the others?’

‘I-I haven’t heard from them,’ said Hinata sadly, looking to the ground.

Suga and Daichi exchanged a look, and Daichi sighed again. ‘Tsukishima, can you call the authorities for help?’

‘I’ve not been able to get signal so far,’ Tsukishima replied. ‘I’ll have a walk around the garden.’

Daichi nodded. ‘Kageyama! Can you hear me?’

The boys on the ground waited for some confirmation, but all they heard was the rustling of trees.

Hinata knew Kageyama was in there and he was safe. He’d seen for himself that the floor was in tact and the ceiling had held. Hardly any glass had entered the room when he’d smashed it, and Kageyama seemed better now – he’d been able to open the window without any problems and crawled inside, though he did look as white as a sheet. After that, they hadn’t heard a sound. He was safe, sure, but Hinata had seen his expression on that ledge. Kageyama was inside and he was panicking, and they _needed_ to get him, and the others, out before the house did any more damage.[  
](http://viria.tumblr.com/post/98150974273/do-you-ever-want-to-see-someone-talk-to-someone)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sly mention of Kenma because [VIRIA WHY](http://viria.tumblr.com/post/98150974273/do-you-ever-want-to-see-someone-talk-to-someone) (fanart in general destroys me it's really not healthy)


	8. Found

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Back on the top floor, Tanaka is now available to help Asahi look for Noya and find a way out before the rest of the attic drops on top of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mainly Tanaka POV because I care a lot for him and he doesn't seem to get as much attention in the fandom as everyone else ;_____;  
> I promise Noya will come back to us here too! Mentions of blood and injury again.

On the outskirts of the mess that had smashed through the ceiling, an old tea set had been shattered to pieces, spread out across a patch of floor by Tanaka’s feet. The broken shards were smooth and pale, but sharp and rough around the edges. A tiny piece in Tanaka’s hand was delicately painted with a chrysanthemum outlined in gold. He crouched nearby with his head at an angle to avoid a piece of furniture jutting out to his left, and pushed the shards around so they scraped against the floor.

He had no other way to keep himself busy. Asahi was somewhere in front of Tanaka, hidden by the pile of furniture he’d been piling up in the search for Noya.

Tanaka had been conscious now for about ten minutes. He didn’t know for sure how long – he’d forgotten his phone this morning, and mentally kicked himself for it because this is the _one time_ he really needed it. Asahi had made it clear that they couldn’t shout for help, not that anyone besides the first year duo would be able to hear them in such a secluded spot.

Not being able to hear Hinata and Kageyama made Tanaka feel sick. Or maybe that was the blow to his head. He worried for them, and how neither of them seemed like they’d be able to keep their heads in this situation. Then again, he and Asahi weren’t doing much better – Asahi probably wasn’t aware that he was muttering to himself as he worked. He was moving slowly too, wary of the floor, the ceiling – or lack of – and the debris stacked around his feet. And Tanaka, with a broken arm, was little use to the search.

Slowly, Tanaka stood, still holding the shard of pottery in his hand. Asahi had cleared through less than half the floor so far. He’d started searching around where Tanaka had been found, but Noya wasn’t nearby. Asahi had waded into the mess, leaving Tanaka on the edge, unable to do anything. The door was blocked, the windows had no escape route, and Asahi wouldn’t let Tanaka move too quickly, let alone help with the digging.

It frustrated Tanaka. Noya was trapped under that mess somewhere, how could he not help? He couldn’t stand by watching Asahi doing all of the work. Even if Tanaka’s left arm was broken, and they still weren’t sure if he had concussion, Asahi couldn’t cope with this himself. Tanaka had no idea what had happened before he’d woken up, but the sweat dripping off Asahi’s face, and the terror in his eyes even when he’d found Tanaka was still breathing, both pointed toward a breakdown.

Carefully, Tanaka moved around the pile, wandering nearer to the windows in search of any sign of Noya over there. He passed the spot where Asahi’s leg had fallen through the floor.

‘Tanaka!’ hissed Asahi, less of a whimper and more of a command. Hearing such a tone from him made Tanaka raise an eyebrow. ‘I said to stay back!’

Tanaka sighed. ‘What good am I then?’ He threw up his right arm for emphasis, and Asahi watched it like it was a wrecking ball about to demolish this disaster of a house. ‘I _can_ help, Asahi!’ 

Asahi turned serious. ‘No, you’ve got to stay back so you don’t get more hurt.’

‘I can’t stay shoved in a corner whilst Noya is trapped in there!’ Tanaka shouted, forgetting himself, waving his arms about and wincing at the pain in his left arm as he moved. ‘OW!’

Above them came a creak. A small spike of wood fell from the attic and landed softly on the pile Asahi had been creating, but as eyes drifted back upward, a heavier piece of furniture fell. It crushed the pile Asahi had checked through, rattling the room.

Asahi made a strangled noise, but then they were both silent for a few minutes. Suddenly Asahi was wading back through the mess, marching right up to Tanaka, teeth gritted. ‘ _Tanaka_! What did I say?!’ he growled.

Tanaka let out the breath he didn’t know he’d been holding. ‘S…sorry, Asahi,’ Tanaka stuttered, understanding now why people were often so intimidated by regular Asahi. Seeing true anger in his eyes really completed the look.

‘Just stay back!’ Asahi said sternly, and Tanaka was glad angry Asahi was such a rarity. As he walked back to the wreckage, Asahi scratched at his head, grabbing hold of the loose bun in his hair and tugging at it.

Tanaka’s fist tightened around the broken piece of china. A wave of anger swept over him and took his arm with it, raising the clenched fist high and swinging back down again – halting just before his fist cracked against the wall of the sitting room.

At the last moment he remembered what that would do. He could get lost in the moment sometimes, but Tanaka wasn’t stupid. He sighed and looked back toward Asahi, knee-deep in debris under an attic that may crush him without warning. Tanaka’s outburst had only dislodged one piece of furniture, but another like that could send the whole thing tumbling down.

Asahi had been alone looking through the mess of the collapse for his friends – did Tanaka have any right to try to yell at the friend who’d risked his life to get him out? Asahi had saved him, and though Tanaka knew their ace was strong when he tried, he was struggling to hold it together. Tanaka shouldn’t be snapping.

He loosened his grip and flexed his hand, letting the shard of pottery pop out of the dent it had made in his palm. It clattered to the floor, and even though it made hardly any noise, Asahi jumped. It shocked Tanaka to see the anger in his face completely gone so quickly.

‘What was that?’ he asked in a panicked whisper, looking up at the hole in the ceiling. ‘Was it Noya? Someone outside?’

‘Nah, it was me, Asahi, don’t worry about it,’ Tanaka sighed.

He turned to the nearest window. Asahi had mentioned that there was no way out that way – that it was much too high – but Tanaka had hope that maybe Hinata and Kageyama had made it out and were making their way through the garden, arguing about any tiny issue that came around. He smiled at the thought, hoping it was true and feeling bad that he’d allowed them to come along too. It was his responsibility to look after them, and he’d led them right into a disaster.

Forgetting his injuries once more, Tanaka leant his elbows against the window ledge but quickly pulled back, clutching his left arm to his chest again, grimacing in pain. He took a deep breath to push away the initial burst of pain and, when his gaze fell back on the garden, he saw a figure moving.

‘Tsukishima!’ Tanaka yelled, grinning and forgetting how unstable the room was.

Asahi flinched at the noise, and kept his gaze on the unmoving clutter above him. ‘T-tsukishima?’ The mention of their teammate seemed to stop Angry Asahi coming back, which Tanaka was glad of.

‘He’s outside!’ Tanaka said at a normal volume this time. Tsukishima was walking around the edge of the garden with his phone held high – he must be calling for help. Tanaka wondered briefly why he was there, but instead quickly tried to work out how best to get his attention.

Asahi appeared at his side as Tanaka fiddled with the catch on the window. It swung open with a creak and, since Tanaka was still wary of making noise and allowing the attic to fall, he grabbed onto the closest thing in the room – a small animal ornament – and flung it into the garden.

‘Don’t hit him!’ cried Asahi, but it was fine; Tanaka’s aim was well off, and Tsukishima probably thought the noise was a bird fluttering in the trees.

‘Damn,’ muttered Tanaka. He hadn't gotten close to alerting Tsukishima. ‘Asahi pass me more random crap.’

The boys had two piles then, one for what Asahi moved aside, and one for Tanaka to throw at the first year. Tanaka would curse and groan each time one missed – which happened more than they’d expected – and it was a mystery why Tsukishima hadn’t looked up once so far.

Asahi, pleased they had a real chance of getting help now, kept glancing back at Tanaka as he threw back his arm to propel the ornaments far out into the garden. He still shifted the debris, but with each shout that came from Tanaka Asahi had to stop and check nothing would fall. He couldn’t yell at Tanaka again for being loud; all his effort needed to go into searching for Noya.

 _How_ had he not been found already? The room wasn’t that big. Asahi was strong and clearing away the debris fairly quickly, so how come he hadn’t seen anything of Noya yet? His chest felt tight and he took a shaking breath, needing an extra boost to move the case in front of him. It had thin, squeaking metal handles on either side, so Asahi used them to haul it onto his chest, and he staggered backward a little under its weight before he could dump it behind him. As he turned back, amongst the mahogany, oak and dusty silver scattered across the floor, Asahi spotted red.

‘Take this!’ called Tanaka, sounding just like he did on the court, only slightly quieter. Then he let out a _whoop_ , and Asahi felt the floor shaking as he jumped in triumph. ‘He sees me! Tsukishimaaa!’

‘Tanaka,’ Asahi mumbled, feeling quite dizzy.

Tanaka assumed he was being told off for shouting. ‘Oh, sorry, Asahi–’

‘N-no, Tanaka… N-noya…’

‘Noya?’ Tanaka forgot all about Tsukishima and ran to Asahi’s side. When he saw the blood, he dove forward into the wreckage.

This time, Asahi didn’t stop Tanaka helping. Tanaka’s right arm grabbed ahold of whatever Asahi pulled upward, holding it in place whilst Asahi dug underneath to reveal first the sole of a shoe, and then a leg.

 _Noya… please be OK…_ pleaded Asahi as he grabbed at the debris holding down his friend. Tanaka was talking to Noya, willing him to respond.

‘Yuu! Yuu can you hear me?’ he called. ‘Asahi’s here! And-and Tsukishima is outside, he’s going to send help!’

Noya gave no response, but soon Asahi had cleared enough of the clutter that Noya was no longer trapped, but he wasn’t awake. His chest moved slowly, but Asahi and Tanaka didn’t dare think that meant he was OK. He was sleeping, it looked like, with scratches and bruises across his arms and face, his hair sticking up at odd angles.

‘He’s lost so much blood…’ said Tanaka, barely audibly.

They both stared at the cause of Noya’s major injury – a long, large spike of wood protruding from his thigh. His pants were damp around the wound where blood had spilled onto the floor. It didn’t look like much blood was still coming, but he’d already lost more than was safe.

Asahi turned pale. ‘N…Noya!’ he blurted, staggering forward and carefully stepping in the gaps around his friends’ body. He crouched by his head, looking for any head injuries and carefully watching for any fluttering eyes. Tanaka moved forward too, stepping around the bloody patch.

‘Tanaka, don’t move him!’ Asahi warned as Tanaka reached out with his good hand toward Noya’s back.

‘But…we have to!’ he cried, glancing cautiously at the attic.

‘You’re not supposed to move him,’ Asahi said sternly. ‘I-it might make his injuries worse!’

‘So might the ceiling that’s about to collapse on top of him!’ Tanaka replied quickly. ‘Wait…can you hear that?’

Asahi shook his head, bending closer to Noya, but Tanaka shook his head.

‘No, not Noya, I think it’s outside…’ he stood and jumped back over to the window.

Asahi sighed and looked back at Noya. He placed his hand in front of Noya’s face to check he was still breathing, which he was, but it was weak. Honestly he didn’t know why he sat though all of those hospital dramas with his mum – they made him nervous of anything, no matter how extreme and bizarre the injury – but now at least something came in handy. ‘Y…you’re going to be OK, Noya,’ he said quietly.

From somewhere nearby Asahi plucked a long strip of fabric – an old, tough scarf – and pulled at it to check how strong it was. He’d heard somewhere that you should wrap something tightly around a wounded limb, and keep it raised, so Asahi did just that.

‘It’s Daichi!’ Tanaka called from the window. He was careful enough now to know to keep his voice down, but it made it hard for Daichi to hear him. Tsukishima stood by Daichi’s side, but Tanaka didn’t spot anyone else. Tanaka cupped a hand around his mouth and shouted down to the captain. ‘We’re stuck up here! The hallways collapsed, and Noya’s unconscious!’

Asahi sighed as Tanaka repeated his message twice more before Daichi caught the whole thing. ‘If Daichi can’t get through that mess just to scold us, then the authorities will have no chance,’ Asahi muttered as he tied a tight knot around Noya’s thigh, a few inches above where the wood was stuck. It didn’t look like it had gone all the way through, but it was still very serious.

When Asahi looked back at Tanaka, who was leaning dangerously out of the window, he heard a voice.

‘S’no way to talk about your captain,’ it said, the voice low and raspy. Noya coughed and his eyes slowly opened, his head moving stiffly to look up at Asahi. He blinked a few times and spoke again, his voice still croaky. ‘Is that a black hole?’

Asahi frowned and looked up. He’d momentarily thought Noya had hit his head really hard. ‘No, but if we don’t move soon it might crush us,’ he said. His voice was shaking and he couldn’t say much else anyway for Tanaka ran over at the sound of his friend’s voice.

‘Noya! Finally!’ he sighed, a big grin lighting up his face. ‘How do you feel?’

‘Ryuu! What happened to your arm?’ Noya asked, shifting to sit up. He quickly realised that was a mistake, and cried out in pain. Both Tanaka and Asahi flinched, looking up, but the debris stayed put for Noya. ‘Wha…what happened to my leg?!’ Noya cried, clutching at his thigh and trying to pull himself higher without it hurting. Asahi didn’t really know how to help him, so he looked a little lost.

‘Asahi, go tell Daichi he’s awake,’ said Tanaka, crouching down beside Noya and taking over the nursing duties. Reluctantly Asahi obeyed, and Tanaka wasn’t sure if he was more scared of leaving Noya in this state or fearing the wrath of Daichi.

Both Tanaka and Noya watched the ace as he walked away, and Tanaka sighed.

‘He’s not OK, is he,’ noted Noya with a frown. He’d managed to sit up now, but he still gritted his teeth in pain; even the smallest of movements caused more than just discomfort - this was agony.

‘No,’ said Tanaka simply. ‘He’s worn himself out trying to find us in this mess,’ he gestured to the furniture around him. Really, they’d been lucky; with the amount of heavy chests and wardrobes surrounding them it was a miracle the boys had slotted themselves into the spaces containing the lighter bits and pieces. ‘Can you move your leg?’

Noya looked down at the floor. He saw the blood – his blood – staining the floor and it made him queasy. ‘Not much,’ he muttered. If he were talking to Asahi he’d have answered totally differently; he’d have been loud, reassuring him he was OK and he didn’t need worry, but this was Tanaka. Tanaka could tell anyway that he was really hurt, so there was no point in pretending. ‘I-I can just about wiggle my toes.’

Tanaka sighed. ‘Good. Hurts to move my fingers still,’ he shrugged. ‘We’ll be out soon enough – Tsukishima’s trying to call for help.’

‘When did Tsukishima arrive? And Daichi?’

Tanaka shrugged again, and this time it hurt his arm a little. ‘No idea, but thank god they did.’

‘Are Hinata and Kageyama OK?’ Noya asked suddenly.

‘Er, I’m not sure… Asahi,’ Tanaka called. ‘How are Hinata and Kageyama?’

Asahi wasn’t great at passing on the messages. He was usually pretty quiet but he didn’t dare raise is voice in case it did some damage. It took several tries and a visibly angry glare from Daichi for any message to reach the ground.

‘Hinata’s OK,’ Daichi called back. He didn’t need worry about how loud he was anymore – at least he hoped not. ‘He’s hurt his ankle but he’s walking on it. Kageyama’s still inside.’

Daichi turned to the first year beside him. ‘Any luck, Tsukishima?’

‘No,’ he replied immediately. ‘It keeps cutting out. I’ll carry on looking for a better signal,’ he said, wandering back into the garden.

Daichi folded his arms and looked back up to the top floor, where Asahi still gripped tightly to the window frame as he looked down. ‘Asahi, is Noya OK?’

Asahi shook his head. ‘Something is stuck in his leg,’ he said slowly, and just loud enough for Daichi to catch it the first time. ‘He can’t move far.’

With a sigh, Daichi rubbed the side of his face, forgetting that he’d grazed it and the simple swipe of his hand brought tiny pinpricks of blood to the surface. ‘Be careful,’ he called back, all out of words. Nothing reassuring came to mind – if Tanaka and Noya were both injured, Asahi was a wreck, and their room was completely blocked, a group of teenagers had no chance helping them out. He just had to hope Noya particularly could hang on until real help arrived. ‘I’ll keep checking back,’ he said. ‘I need to see how the others are.’

Daichi ran back around the house. Suga had forced Hinata into one of the patio chairs and was keeping a close eye on him as they all shouted up to Kageyama’s room.

‘Still silent?’ asked Daichi as he came up behind them.

‘Not a peep,’ replied Suga.

‘Are the others OK?’ asked Hinata.

‘I’m afraid not,’ sighed Daichi, briefly explaining what was wrong with them.

‘We have to get them out,’ said Suga the moment Daichi finished. ‘And Kageyama… oh, god,’ he sighed, looking back at the window and along the rest of the crumbling house.

‘I-is there a way in anywhere?’ asked Yamaguchi.

‘This back door, where we came in!' Hinata declared happily, already turning around to run inside, but Daichi caught hold of his jacket.

‘No, Hinata, that corridor got crushed in the collapse,’ sighed Daichi. ‘And anyway, nobody’s going inside.’

All three boys stared at him.

‘How else can we help them?’ questioned Suga.

‘By not getting ourselves injured any more, and waiting for the authorities,’ said Daichi, his confidence in his decision wavering at the sight of Suga’s displeased expression.

‘That could take ages, Daichi. We need to do something _now_ ,’ Suga insisted. Hinata nodded madly beside him, and Yamaguchi just looked stressed by the whole ordeal. ‘Or we need to at least find a way _out_ for them right? If Kageyama leaves his room he might have a clear path to escape through, but then he’d still be trapped if we don’t find an exit.’

Daichi frowned. He knew what Suga was doing. He even got dragged in by it – that yes they do need an exit, but Daichi knew that an exit was an entrance, too. Still, Suga’s reasoning won, plus Daichi decided if they didn’t try to find a sensible way in – no, a way _out_ – then someone would end up climbing across dangerous debris or feeling their way through the cellar just to get back inside.

Four of their team was trapped in there. One had little chance of moving, the two he was with probably couldn’t find a way out either, and they had no idea how the fourth was doing. Daichi decided that he’d do whatever he could to make sure more people came out than went back in, though with the selection of teammates he had on the outside, he expected that would prove difficult.


	9. Damsel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here we re-visit Kageyama, who is once again trapped in the house.  
> Single POV.

'Kageyama!' shouted the voices. Repeatedly. 'Kageyama! Are you OK in there?' 

He couldn't find a breath to answer with.

His head still spun from his time out on the window ledge. Kageyama wasn't afraid of heights in the slightest, or at least he hadn't been - if he makes it out of this crumbling hell hole then maybe he'll feel a little differently about the matter. The ringing in his ears wouldn't stop and there was a buzzing in his head, like electrical wires had been chewed and the damage was glitching every part of him; his vision still had trouble focusing, his hands shook badly and he could feel his heart booming in his chest. 

He didn't understand why he had reacted so badly on the ledge. When the house had begun its collapse Kageyama had started panicking, but not like this. At that time, back in the bedroom, he was trying to calm his frustrations at being trapped in a place so unstable, counting to ten and actually being able to stand without wobbling. Outside on the ledge he'd been a total wreck. Counting and regulating his breathing did little to calm him there. Now, if he were to try and stand, Kageyama didn't think he'd manage it. 

Not that he knew for sure. Kageyama hadn't moved very far since entering the new room. With Yamaguchi's help, he'd shuffled around the window ledge, smashed the window and unhooked the catch, allowing the window to swing open. It had gone so smoothly that Kageyama just _knew_ something would go wrong at the next hurdle. With more persuasion from Yamaguchi and Hinata, Kageyama had eventually stepped forward and crouched to get through the window. He wavered too much here, and practically tumbled into the room. He hadn't landed hard on the ground - both his feet had landed neatly on the floorboards, crunching on the small pieces of glass - but his body felt so heavy that he immediately dropped to his hands and knees.

He'd stayed in that position. The ground beneath his feet was considerably more stable than the window ledge, but Kageyama couldn't risk it.

 _We’ll get you out safely once you’re back inside!_ Yamaguchi had promised. 

But Kageyama didn't feel like moving.

If he moved, something would go wrong. His loud shouts earlier must have contributed to the collapse. Moving now could cause more damage to the others still lost somewhere in the house. 

There was no way Yamaguchi would be able to get inside, either. Maybe there _was_ a way in somewhere, but it'd be too dangerous to try to manoeuvre around the debris slicing through hallways, so they'd never be able to get Kageyama out no matter what promises had been made. Besides, Yamaguchi didn't strike Kageyama as the brave hero who'd save everyone, and the other options didn't look great: Tsukishima, who may be able to rescue Kageyama, but would end up changing his _king_ jokes to _damsel in distress_ ; and Hinata, who'd injured his leg in the fall and would probably hurt himself even more if he tried to get back in the house.

'Kageyamaaa!' called Hinata from outside, whining now. 'What are you doing in there?!'

Kageyama's fingers curled inward and his nails scraped against the wooden floor. Tiny splinters broke away, and little shards of glass embedded themselves under Kageyama's nails. Just hearing Hinata's voice made Kageyama want to scream; the frustrating thing was that he couldn't make any noise. He couldn't shout _dumbass_  and he couldn't stand up. Everything below his chest refused to move, like all the signals he sent were stopped before they passed his lungs, where the extra effort was needed to keep up with the heaving chest that wouldn't allow him to form words. 

He slammed his hands over his ears. The buzzing grew louder but that was OK; anything to block out Hinata's voice. 

Kageyama couldn't even pinpoint why he was so angry at Hinata in particular. True, he was all over the place right now, but it was always something obvious that made him annoyed at Hinata, like when he doesn't even try to dodge a volleyball to the face, or when he makes some stupid comment about being the ace.

If he'd done anything like that today, it wasn't what was bothering Kageyama. As Kageyama squeezed his eyes shut and thought about it, he realised with a jolt that Hinata had been making every effort to get them to safety. Whilst Kageyama had accepted defeat so quickly, Hinata kept searching for an escape. He'd even stopped Kageyama being crushed in the initial collapse.

A dark fog clouded Kageyama's mind, casting everything in shadows, and he stumbled around blindly trying to find the right path to making his legs move or his eye stop twitching or to slow his heart rate. Hinata's actions rose above the fog. The one clear thing to Kageyama was that Hinata had been surprisingly brave in a situation anyone would think he'd struggle to get through.

But he'd still fallen.

Kageyama just couldn't forget the moment he saw Hinata's feet sliding away from the ledge, saw his hands desperately reaching out for something to hold on to. He thought moments like that were supposed to go in slow motion, to give him a chance to lean over and save his stupid teammate from falling, but it was over before Kageyama could let out a breath. A heavy weight sat in his stomach still, dragging him to the floor. Hinata was fine on the ground but Kageyama was still fuming.

_We're not going to let you fall, Kageyama._

How _dare_  Hinata say such a thing when he couldn't be sure of his own safety! He hadn't known the ledge would hold, yet he told Kageyama with such certainty that they wouldn't let him fall. And he said it as if they had any control over the collapse of the house! As if Kageyama _were_ the damsel in distress - one sweating with nerves and clutching tightly to the flat walls - needing rescuing by the first year heroes. Kageyama could recall the grin he gave when he'd told him that. Had Tsukishima said it, there'd have been no emotion in face or voice, and if the words had been Yamaguchi's there's not a person alive who would trust he had faith in the statement. Hinata, however, Hinata just radiated positivity sometimes. Other times he radiated stupidity, which was more common, but this sort of visible positivity was as clear and as rare as his extreme concentration. That smile he'd given with those words was true; he had total faith in what he was saying and what they were doing to ensure Kageyama's safety. 

But that was Hinata: an optimist, always facing the sun. 

Blinded by it, too, because that _idiot_ hadn't taken his own safety into account. 

'Kageyama?' another voice called from below. Kageyama lost his train of thought, his face softening and releasing the frown he'd been wearing for goodness-knows how long now. What was Sugawara doing here? 

He heard the captain, too, but they were all talking too low for him to overhear. The weight in his stomach grew heavier at the thought of the third years having to come in and rescue Kageyama - he didn't really want _anyone_ having to go into this crumbling house to rescue him, but the only other option was for Kageyama to move himself. 

The weight stopped that from happening. The best Kageyama could manage, as he listened to the distant mumbles of his teammates in the garden, was sitting upright on his knees, keeping his fingertips on the floor so he felt steady still. 

He let out a breath. It was a step forward, at least. And now he could examine the room he'd landed himself in. 

Though still a bedroom, it was smaller than the one next door. Instead of a large wardrobe there was just a set of drawers. The bed was the same and had a similar floral duvet, and the first thing Kageyama thought was that Hinata's original plan of climbing down knotted bedsheets might've worked had they used the sheets from in here, too. Kageyama wasn't going to try it, though. By the window there was no desk, and the room was free of any other furniture besides a small bedside table matching the drawers. 

There was only a small space between the window and the end of the bed. Kageyama sat in that gap, nearer to the bed. He didn't make the effort to move again for a few minutes - he stayed still to dull the dizziness in his mind. He could hear buzzing again and scrunched up his face, and when it eventually subsided he could no longer hear his teammates. 

Slowly, he turned his gaze to the window. He squinted at the bright white clouds still blocking out the sun. He supposed his teammates had moved on now, perhaps in search of Asahi, Tanaka and Noya, leaving Kageyama to sit and wait for help. 

He'd feel awful if they went back into the house for him. The thought of them all getting trapped too, and feeling as bad as Kageyama did after his ordeal, made Kageyama feel sick, and it was what had his arm swinging up to grab onto the bedpost. He used it to haul himself up, legs shaking violently with the effort. His arm shook, too, feeling like it might snap where the bandage from earlier cut into his skin. 

He managed to stand, but it only got him around to the bed, on which he dropped. There was a stab to his chest as the bed rocked under his weight and he panicked thinking that this would be the hurdle that cracked. He lay perfectly still for several minutes. Since he was on his side, both legs awkwardly trying to keep some contact with the ground, his right arm got crushed beneath his body and was numb and tingling by the time he moved again.

The only movement he made was rolling onto his back, slowly. The bedsprings creaked loudly. So far none of his movements had caused a massive disaster in this room, and as Kageyama was face to face with the ceiling, he wondered how long it may hold for. It showed no cracks, but neither had that ledge. 

Kageyama closed his eyes again and clenched his fists, feeling his nails, tiny splinters and the smallest crystals of glass scratch at his palms. There was a fuzziness in his arm that only bothered him a little, quickly fading. He willed the buzzing in his head to return at full volume, but it was only a dull hum now. The sounds of the house caught up with him, and he heard the creaks once more, each one making him twitch. 

Something else came with it. Voices.

Kageyama sat up. The voices weren't coming from outside, but behind him, elsewhere in the house. He glanced around the floor and walls, following where the sounds seemed to be coming from. It felt all too similar to just before the collapse, when he'd heard the 'lock' all around him clicking into place and crushing the corridor. He couldn't recognise any of the muffled voices, but he hoped it was the authorities and not the team.

He let his breathing grow heavier and louder, his cheeks puffing and his whole body shaking. It made the voices quieter, so Kageyama wouldn't be able to tell if a shout belonged to Hinata or one of his other teammates. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my attempt at getting as close to Kageyama-and-Hinata-are-madly-in-love-and-worried-about-each-other-but-won't-admit-it as I can without actually saying it.  
> Really hope you're enjoying this! Thanks for the support, it means so much!


	10. Captain's Orders

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Those outside try to find a safe way inside... erm, I mean a way _out_ for those already inside...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> POV switches without warning - sorry!  
> Also I don't know why I decided to give chapter titles I'm actually awful at choosing them.

Daichi rounded up those on the ground and took them to the front of the house. Tanaka waved from a window high above, to left of the house front, the total opposite side from where Kageyama was still trapped.

The young setter hadn't said a word despite how many times they called up to him. He hadn't fallen through the floor, and Hinata was sure the room was safe enough for him to have not been hurt, so they supposed he was having some sort of panic attack. It made Daichi unhappy to just leave him like that, but they couldn't do much else from the outside. 

He didn't like the other option, though - going inside.

Daichi pressed his face close to the thick glass of the front door where a small patch of dust and grime had been cleared. Directly ahead of him he could see that part of the house had crushed the far end of the hallway, likely the one they'd all entered through from the dining room. He and Suga hadn't explored the foyer so Daichi couldn't work out what was where. Hinata, the only other one there who had been inside, said he hadn't really payed attention to his surroundings until they reached the floor with the volleyball, so even if they could go inside they'd basically be blind. 

Getting inside wasn't the aim. They simply needed to clear a safe gap for their friends to escape through if the opportunity came. And, if they could now contact the authorities, opening a clear route for them would make rescuing the Karasuno boys easier. 

Daichi stepped back from the window. The others, minus Tsukishima, stood close behind him and all jumped away quickly when Daichi turned. 'Tanaka?' he shouted. 'What's it like up there? Is there a way to the door?'

'It's kinda complicated up here,' he called down. 'The door's blocked and the attic nearly crushed us in the hall,' he shrugged apologetically. 

With a sigh, Daichi stood tall and turned back to the others. 'The foyer looks undamaged, but it'll be hard to get to anyone beyond that. So,' Daichi turned stern, folding his arms and ignoring the pain he got from doing so. 'Nobody is going back inside.'

Daichi looked immediately to Suga for support on the matter, but he wouldn't meet his eyes. Only moments ago had Suga been so insistent that they needed to act, not wait around for the authorities. Yamaguchi stood silently beside Hinata, who was frowning hard at the captain. Nobody challenged him, though, so Daichi took that as a good sign. He hoped _just this once_  that they'd listen to him the first time. 

'But,' he added. 'We should still try to get the door open - a way out for them, like you said, Suga.' 

His friend gave only a small nod as a reply and still wouldn't look at him. They both turned to Hinata, who was buzzing and bouncing on his feet.

'So how do we get in?' he asked, completely missing the point.

The door was heavy and couldn't be held open by only one person, so when Daichi released his hold the door swung back shut with a low boom. Unsurprisingly it wasn't locked, but it didn't need to be when it was so stiff and heavy. Like the cellar door, they had to clear the dirt from the hinges and around the edge of the door so they could prise it open. Daichi only pulled it open a few inches as he'd insisted to do it on his own, but he had only half his usual strength left after his attempts to escape the cellar.

Suga stepped forward, silently offering to help Daichi's efforts. With them both having injuries to their shoulders they still couldn't open the door very far. 

'We won't get anywhere like this,' sighed Suga. He looked around and found a brick lying on the ground, which he thought could hold the door in place. If they could keep blocking the door with larger objects they wouldn't need to start from scratch each time they tried to open it. 

Daichi seemed to understand his plan and sent Yamaguchi to the back of the house to get a patio chair. If they could pull the door open enough to put a chair in the gap, it would be plenty of space for the others to get out. 

They waited in silence for Yamaguchi's return. Tsukishima was out in the garden still, but as Daichi looked over he saw Tsukishima's lips moving - either he was talking to himself or he'd _finally_ got through to the authorities. 

Hinata was growing restless. He kept shuffling around the porch area. It really didn't hurt his foot any more to move. Not much. If he put too much pressure on it pain shot up his leg, but he was fine to walk and hop lightly from foot to foot. Jumping or running might hurt a lot more, though, but that was what Hinata was preparing himself for. 

Yamaguchi returned with the chair in his arms and he only tripped once on the uneven tiles. This time, he was recruited to help the third years in pulling the door open, and Hinata was given the job of shoving the brick into place. It worked, and the group quickly went about increasing that gap. Before long and with much painful effort from Daichi and Suga, there was a space wide enough for the chair to be slotted in.

'Quickly, Hinata,' said Daichi, visible strain on his face as he held the door in place. Hinata had to kick away the pile of bricks they'd already set up so he could put the chair in place.

Hinata jammed the chair into the gap and made sure all four legs were safely on the ground. He wrapped a hand tightly around the back of the chair that rested against the doorframe.  

'Done it,' announced Hinata. Three sets of fingers broke away from the door. Daichi sighed with relief, and Yamaguchi staggered backward. Suga rubbed at his shoulder and turned away from the house for a moment. As Daichi caught his breath and stood up, stretching his arms and testing out his shoulders, Hinata decided he needed to move. 

Hinata sprang forward, pushing his hands against the door and its frame for added speed. His good foot hauled Hinata over the chair and through the narrow gap they'd made into the foyer. Landing on his injured leg proved more painful than Hinata had thought it would; at that first step his leg fell beneath him, but his working leg pulled him up again and, at a funny sort of hop, Hinata was off through the foyer and on his way to finding his friends.

'Hinata!' Daichi growled far behind him.

As far as he could tell, nobody was following him. No angry footsteps echoed his slower pace. He didn't dare turn around or slow, though, and still put all the effort he could into walking fast - running where possible - and ignoring the pain in his body. Up the stairs he hopped, leaping over the broken step at the corner that he remembered from earlier. 

He knew the way to the third floor was around the next bend, probably where another set of stairs sat, but Hinata wasn't interested in that yet; he wanted to save Asahi, Noya and Tanaka, but they'd already made it clear that it was difficult to get through their floor - they might be better waiting, despite the thought making Hinata angry. They probably _couldn't_ wait, by the sounds of their injuries, so Hinata decided he would take a look - but _only_ after he got Kageyama out.

It had been Hinata's idea to go out on that ledge. It had been the ledge that broke Kageyama, turned him into a shaking, nervous wreck whose face paled just looking at the ground below him. Kageyama wasn't known for being talkative, though he could be loud whenever he spoke, but hearing nothing at all from him was unnerving. 

Just what _was_ Kageyama doing in there? Had he passed out? Had he hurt himself so badly he couldn't move? Was he shaking and rocking on the floor, maybe unable to breathe? Hinata was going to find out and drag him out of that house by the collar if he had to. He wasn't dealing with the same Kageyama he'd come to know, and he wasn't going to let this disaster of a day change that for good. 

Hinata didn't stop at the top of the stairs; he kept moving, hurrying down the hall and around the corner, the same route he'd taken not so long ago with Kageyama a step behind. He came face to face once again with the debris that had trapped them.

The ceiling had cracked halfway down the hallway, about where the entrance to the bedroom was. He moved closer, slowly, keeping an eye on the ceiling and telling himself that the creaks made by his feet were nothing to fret about. The debris was thick and this time Hinata didn't see a way to crawl in. He couldn't even tell exactly how far it went down the hallway, but he bet it didn't block Kageyama's room. 

There was only one way to find out. Hinata began pulling the mess apart.  

* * *

 

'I _knew_ he'd do that,' said Daichi with a low growl to his voice. He watched the first year disappearing into the house. He hadn't been quick enough to grab him; Hinata had known about his injuries and had taken advantage of that to get inside.

Daichi's blood boiled. Just once he'd like them to show some responsibility, some thinking before their actions. Injured Hinata had waltzed right back into the crumbling house. Noya and Tanaka had convinced them all to go exploring in the first place - did any one of them think that _maybe_ it wasn't safe?

His fist slammed onto the doorframe before he realised what he was doing - the force of it could have done some damage to the house, somewhere. He staggered backward, blinking at the house, which stayed still under his gaze. With a sigh he turned away from the house, rubbing his temple with his hand.

A figure moved behind him, and Daichi spun around.

'Where do you think you're going?' he asked, still with a slight growl. 

Suga frowned back at him. 'We can't let Hinata go in on his own,' he said calmly, blinking back at Daichi like he couldn't believe he was even challenging Suga's decision. 'He's injured and besides we're olde-'

'No,' said Daichi simply, moving to block the door, but Suga was quicker and stepped forward onto the chair. 

'Would you rather send Yamaguchi?' asked Suga with an eyebrow raised. There was no insult in what he said, he simply knew that Yamaguchi would have a hard time coping in that situation. He knew the same of Hinata, though he thought the latter was much more determined. Suga couldn't stand by watching and waiting and listening, when he felt perfectly capable of helping his friends. 'You're in no shape to help them any more, Daichi.' They were both exhausted and weak now, but Daichi had hurt himself more in trying to break out of the cellar. Suga knew that though he might not be the strongest among them, he had enough fight left in him to help and to save Daichi from hurting himself further.

Daichi threw Suga a look that would have Asahi cowering in the corner, and might actually keep Tanaka and Noya in line. His eyes were dark, and it was the kind of face you just wouldn't challenge. Suga was practically immune, though, so kept his foot firmly planted on the chair. When Daichi didn't reply, he just kept staring, Suga decided they didn't have time for such an argument, and he raised his sore arms to latch onto the door so he could pull himself up and through into the foyer.

As he did, a strong, heavy hand wrapped around Suga's wrist.

'Daichi, let go,' said Suga evenly. He had barely been able to look in his friend's eyes over this disagreement, but he did so now, fixing Daichi with a glare that Suga so rarely used.

'No,' he said again. With an awful lot of force, Daichi dragged Suga backwards. His foot slipped off the chair and Daichi's pull moved Suga far from the door, with Daichi and Yamaguchi now blocking his path. 

'What was that for?' Suga complained, trying to remove Daichi's hand from his wrist. His grip was cold still from their time in the icy cellar, but it was only at Daichi's touch that Suga realised how cold his own skin was. The sky had slowly darkened, the white clouds now grey and still not allowing the sunlight to break through, and the cold wind made its way down Suga's shirt, making goosebumps pop up all along his skin.

'Quit being ridiculous, Suga,' hissed Daichi. 'You should know better than to try something so stupid!'

'Stupid?' Suga questioned with a light laugh, the slightest trace of annoyance in his expression. 'You think it's stupid to go back in there to save our friends? Hinata is putting himself in more danger to help them - maybe it's not _wise_ , or the decision you'd make, but it's certainly not stupid.'

Suga rarely raised his voice in anger, and he wasn't going to do it now, not directed at his best friend. It was just unthinkable for Suga to stand back watching this house collapse on his friends. He needed to be out there with them, helping and contributing to them safely escaping - _not_ doing so would be stupid in his eyes. Blindly running into a crumbling, unknown structure was a thought that made Suga's heart race, but that was good; that fear and worry could keep his strength up. 

'You're not going in after them,' Daichi replied. 

'Yes I am,' he wrenched his arm from his friend's grip. 

Yamaguchi saw the red marks where Daichi's hand had been on Sugawara's wrist. The two third years stepped away from each other, neither breaking eye contact. Sugawara was waiting for Daichi to try and challenge his choice again, and Daichi was waiting for Sugawara to make a move.

How could these two be fighting? Daichi was their strong captain, and Sugawara their wise and kind vice captain - the two of them were a pair. This situation was breaking them. 

They were both injured, constantly wincing at the smallest movement of their head or arms. Hinata had probably done himself more damage already by running in. The only ones of their team present and uninjured were Yamaguchi and Tsukki. Naturally that meant they were in the best position to help the efforts.

Yamaguchi looked past the third years to where Tsukki was walking around the garden. Had Tsukki not agreed to humour Yamaguchi and go along to the abandoned house, their teammates would still be in danger - Daichi and Sugawara in the cellar, Hinata and Kageyama balancing on the ledge, falling to the hard concrete. The others trapped on the top floor were the only ones they hadn't been able to help yet, but now they had the opportunity. 

There was no way Yamaguchi was going to volunteer himself and Tsukki, though. He knew the third years were arguing because neither wanted the other to get hurt, and Yamaguchi thought the same of Tsukki. His best friend hadn't been injured so far and he wasn't going to be. Tsukki was better off where he was now out in the garden, far enough away that even if the house swayed and fell he still wouldn't be involved. 

That left Yamaguchi.

He knew he wasn't the first choice in a situation like this. His hands hadn't stopped shaking since they'd seen Hinata and Kageyama out on the ledge. That was purely in his head though; no physical injuries made him nervous, so he couldn't be held back by it - right? His teammates all needed help and he was perfectly capable, physically, to aid them, so surely he could find it in him to step up?

So that's what he did.

He couldn't find the courage that quickly; he decided it would come later, hopefully. He did step up, though, climbing easily over the chair and through the front door. 

'No - Yamaguchi!' called Sugawara, not fast enough to grab onto the first year. 

With each step Yamaguchi took up the stairs he muttered his apologies. ' _Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorr-AH!_ '

At the second corner Yamaguchi tripped and fell onto his front, his chest slamming painfully into the steps. 

Typical, he thought. He hadn't even got to the next floor and he'd already failed. He glanced upward at the mountain he still had to climb, and the ceiling above. Being under it himself now he could feel the weight over him, despite not being crushed or contained in any sense. He could run right back out the door if he wanted. The step he'd tripped on was broken but the rest of the floor was safe to walk on - escape was easy for Yamaguchi. 

He listened to how the house moved. The third years were talking again outside, and he could hear someone moving on the next floor, probably Hinata. He couldn't hear the others at all but knew they were there, waiting for help. Yamaguchi reminded himself that he was the help, and he couldn't just run away from this.

He pushed himself up and made it to the landing. To his right was the empty, dusty corridor. From that direction he could hear what he hoped was Hinata. To his left, the landing bent around to the very front of the house and led off through a door - Tanaka had mentioned that the way to the next floor was around that bend, and it seemed to be calling to Yamaguchi. Hinata was closer, and could probably do with some help, but Yamaguchi knew how hard Hinata could work when he wanted to, so Yamaguchi might just get in the way. As the only other one able to help he knew he should help the others trapped on the top floor, leaving Hinata to get to Kageyama. 

Yamaguchi jogged around the bend, hesitantly watching out for something to inevitably knock him out, too. 

* * *

 

Daichi and Suga stared at the spot where Yamaguchi had just been. Neither had thought Yamaguchi of all people would have made the leap. They'd been too busy arguing to worry about their nervous first year. 

'Captain,' called Tsukishima as he jogged back over, phone in his hand dropped to his side. 'Where's Yamaguchi?'

'He followed Hinata,' Suga replied. Tsukishima wasn't one to show emotions most of the time, but Suga could hear the worry for his friend as he spoke. He gazed up at the house, like he was trying to see past the boards and glass to keep his eye on Yamaguchi, but of course he couldn't.

Suga didn't expect Tsukki would try to get in. It didn't stop him being more determined to get himself in, though. 

'Daich-'

'Daichi!' Tanaka called from above them. He'd been mostly silent, partly because any louder noises might shake the house, and partly because he had nothing to report. The panic in his voice was evident now. 'Noya isn't looking so good!' 

Suga and Daichi exchanged a look. They knew what the other was thinking. 

'What's wrong with him?' shouted Daichi.

'He looks kinda green...' said Tanaka. 'Asahi looks pretty bad too.'

Daichi sighed and rubbed his face, again forgetting the graze and allowing tiny spots of blood to break the surface. He turned to Suga. Daichi might as well admit defeat now; there was no way Suga would listen to Daichi's reasoning.

'Think about it like this,' Suga said quickly to Daichi, realising the urgency of him _needing_ to get in and help. 'Back in the kitchen if you hadn't pulled me back, where would I be now?' he asked, receiving just a sad look from Daichi. 'Under that debris. And where would you be? Trying to pull me out. Hinata is doing the exact same thing now, and you'd call it stupid just because it's not in your best interests?'

Daichi shook his head and folded his arms. 'Suga that isn't fair.'

'It's the same situation though-'

'Not that - saying it's not _in my best interests_. All I want is for them to be out and safe, you know that.' He glanced upward at the top floor window, where Tanaka was still hanging out, waiting for some instruction or decision to be made.

'Then let me go in and help,' Suga pleaded.

Daichi sighed heavily. Currently six of their team was inside that house. Add Suga and that was seven. Could the house hold the seven of them? It was likely going to crash at any moment, with them all inside. _Wouldn't_ it be better to go in and help where they could, not just watch from outside? Daichi wasn't even sure any more. Suga was clever and Daichi knew that much. If it were a completely reckless decision with no chance of success, Suga wouldn't be suggesting it. 

'Be careful, OK?' Daichi muttered eventually, turning slightly away from the house, as if by not seeing Suga go in it wouldn't be his fault. 'And don't you dare think you're going inside, too,' Daichi said sternly to Tsukishima. 

Suga beamed, but quickly jumped through the gap into the house. He knew it had been a hard decision for Daichi to make, but to Suga it was the only decision that wouldn't end up giving him nightmares. 

He quickly climbed to the next floor and followed the sounds of Hinata down the corridor, where he found him grunting and heaving heavy boards around his head. The first year was working so efficiently it shocked Suga. There was a pile of discarded debris behind him, but it was only small. 

'Hinata, watch it!' Suga hissed, jumping forward as a plank fell from the crack above, narrowly missing Hinata. 

'Oh,' Hinata said simply. 'Thanks, Sugawara.' 

Suga blinked, astonished that Hinata so quickly went back to the clutter. Hinata was concentrating hard, something Suga had rarely seen up close. Had the plank hit Hinata, Suga thought he might've continued pulling the wreckage apart without even registering that he'd been hit. 

Yamaguchi wasn't there; he must've gone after the others upstairs. Suga was torn, unsure of who needed help first. He was there to help get as many of them out as he could. Hinata would probably hurt himself soon enough with his task. Yamaguchi would need help soon, too, but Suga worked with reason here - helping Hinata would get him and Kageyama out of the house, so he decided it would be better to get them out first and then aid Yamaguchi with the next floor up, where it all seemed hopeless anyway.

 _No_ , Suga told himself sternly, _not hopeless_. If an optimist were to say that then you know you're doomed. Hinata had faith he could get through and save Kageyama, so Suga needed to adopt the same faith, feeling certain that he could help his friends escape. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bit more action than the last chapter, but a bit hectic, I expect :/  
> I was on the haikyuu!! fanfiction tag on tumblr and saw a angry Suga one shot and ;_____; I can't go through that again why did I make them fight!?  
> 


	11. Determined and Broken

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here we follow Hinata and Suga's challenge of getting to Kageyama.

Under the weight of the heavy boards Hinata tried to carry, his bad leg often complained by dragging him down, unable to keep up with Hinata's pace. Sugawara was there, then, to take the load off his hands, but Hinata saw the flash of pain across his face as the deed didn't agree with his shoulder. 

Not once did Sugawara complain, though, and Hinata was grateful.

'Sorry for running off,' Hinata muttered after a few minutes of his help. Sugawara was good at pointing out which parts of the debris to move and which could bring the next floor crashing down; Hinata alone would have probably buried himself by now.

'You should be,' Sugawara replied with a grin. 'Daichi's going to kill all three of us once we're back outside.'

'Three?' Hinata ducked under a board so he was now surrounded by the planks, moving around like spies do when faced with a laser maze. Hinata was smaller and could fit under the gap easier than Sugawara, but they slowly moved the debris around so Suga could fit through, too, and they could pick apart the mess from closer up.

'Yamaguchi ran in after you,' said Sugawara. He hadn't realised how complicated the mess was inside. In the kitchen there had just been a simple collapse; the ceiling dropped and dragged the room above with it, each layer flattening the one below. Somehow the planks at the bottom had laced together to leave a gap for the boys to crawl under, but Suga knew how quickly that had broken apart. This blockage was more intertwined. Beams cut through the hallway from every angle. Smaller planks squashed between two bigger beams held them in place, and to move one chunk of furniture could drag another with it, the house above them following soon after. 

Suga had been faced with this view already. He couldn't go back then and he can't now; he needed to help everyone.

'Yamaguchi? Where'd he go?'

'Probably to the others upstairs,' Suga replied. 'It's worse up there apparently, but Hinata, can you promise me that once you and Kageyama are out, you'll _stay_ out?'

Hinata bit his lip. Hearing that Yamaguchi was inside, too, following after Hinata's bold decision, made Hinata feel a little nauseous. Not only had Sugawara run in to help them, but Yamaguchi was putting himself in danger for the first time to aid them - he hadn't seen the wreckage for himself before now, unlike the others, so Hinata wondered how he would handle it on his own.

'You should have gone to help Yamaguchi, Sugawara,' said Hinata, avoiding the demand entirely. 

Sugawara sighed, but his mouth twitched with a smile. 'Yamaguchi knows to be careful, unlike someone. Please, Hinata, do listen to Daichi when you're back outside. He's stressed enough.'

'Yeah,' replied Hinata; it wasn't an agreement, more of an acknowledgement. Hinata couldn't promise something he had no certainty he could go through with. If he did get Kageyama out, what about the others? Could he stand outside just waiting to hear how they're doing, if they're safely on their way out? He might have to, with Daichi holding tight to the back of his shirt. 

Talking made them work slower. For several quiet minutes the only words they exchanged were _no, this way_ or _not that one!_ or _careful, steady_. The mess was hard to pick apart. Hinata was trying to move the entire thing, but Suga was adamant that it was impossible; the structure still needed something sturdy enough to keep it in place.

Hinata listened to Sugawara's instructions, trying his best to follow what needed to stay where and what could be moved and, more importantly, what was left in Hinata's way.

Suga crouched in the small space, peering through a gap in the wreckage. It blocked a wide space. They'd so far moved enough to get to the door of the bedroom Hinata and Kageyama had first been trapped in. Over three feet of intertwining debris still blocked their path. 

'Hinata,' Suga called over his shoulder to the bedroom, which Hinata had begun exploring. 'Can you get through here?'

Hesitantly, Hinata wandered over. He remembered the first time he tried to crawl through the gap in the blockage and Kageyama had pulled him back. 'Yeah, I can,' he said, slotting himself in and not feeling his clothes snag or a hand grab onto his shirt. 

'OK, I think you'll have to move a lot around so I can get through,' said Suga. His view was blocked but he did his best to direct Hinata to moving the right pieces. Soon, Hinata had cleared another foot of the debris, and Suga could get through too after pushing unwanted planks to the pile in the bedroom.

Hinata's gaze locked onto a spot down and to his left - he could _totally_ fit through that. There was only one plank in the way, and before Hinata got too excited he looked higher, seeing what effect moving it would have on the rest of the pile. If he could keep the whole section there held up, he'd easily get through. He couldn't do both, though - he needed Sugawara.

There was no way Sugawara would agree to letting Hinata run in on his own. He'd want to do the whole thing properly, making sure they both got through safely and had a clear exit on their return.

'What next...' Suga muttered, looking around at the debris. Hinata immediately looked toward the pile he'd spotted, and Suga followed his gaze. 'Hinata... if I hold this up, could you move this plank,' Suga pointed to one by his feet, the one that was blocking his path forward. 'So I can get through?'

Hinata nodded madly and bent down as Suga reached for the pile. As he heard Sugawara mutter a quiet _ow_ Hinata felt awful for what he was about to do, but not enough that he changed his mind.

'Ready?'

'Yep.'

With a groan, Suga lifted an assortment of beams, boards and furniture, which was all collected together and shuffled in his arms, but he managed to keep it steady. Hinata didn't want to see how much effort it was for him, or how annoyed he'd be when Hinata moved. To be fair, Hinata did move the beam Suga asked for, but with his other hand he also moved the one he'd had his eye on - now there was a clear path for him.

He quickly ducked his head and pulled himself through the gap, finally free of the wreckage. 

'Hinata!' Suga hissed. 'What are you doin- HEY!'

Hinata didn't turn around, but when he heard a crash behind him he stopped.

Had he really just done that? Had he really just left Sugawara under a dangerous pile of debris, just so he could get through _quicker_? His feet didn't move but Hinata turned his body around slowly, his stomach dropping at the sight of the larger mess, where more of the ceiling had cracked and fallen.

'Suga...wara?'

For all too long, Hinata heard nothing. He waited, unmoving, watching through the corner of his eye for something other than planks to move in the mess.

'Dumbass,' he heard faintly. Hinata scrunched up his nose, confused, and looked around for Kageyama - it was his favourite insult after all. 'No wonder Kageyama yells at you so much,' the voice said, and Hinata realised with a huge breath of relief that it was Sugawara from the other side of the mess. He had never been happier at hearing Suga's voice, even if he was insulting him.

'Y-you're OK?'

'Fine,' Sugawara grumbled. 'But there's no way you're getting back through here, Hinata - you might have to lead Kageyama out the window after all.'

'Right. Go help Yamaguchi!' he called, running off down the corridor. 

* * *

 

Hinata could worry about _how_ to get Kageyama out later. First, he had to find him. He knew he was in the next room, so Hinata bolted toward the door he'd had his eyes on since he stepped between the blockage in the hallway. He skidded to a halt, clinging to the doorknob so he didn't fly off down the corridor, and flung open the door.

To find the room empty.

He blinked. 'Huh?'

Slowly he walked in. It wasn't  _empty_ , but he couldn't see Kageyama, and it's not exactly possible to miss him in a small, sparse room like this. Hinata scratched at his head, slowly rocking back and forth on the creaking floorboards. With his face scrunched up he assessed the room closer - he noted the little furniture it held, the vase of long-dead flowers, and the desk shoved up against the window - but it was only when he looked to the wall on his left and saw yet another door that he realised the problem.

'Ah!' he exclaimed suddenly, understanding now this was the wrong room; the glass of the window was not cracked, and Hinata felt downright stupid for missing a _door_. 

He ran at it, throwing open the door and stumbling inside.

There sat his teammate. He was perched on the edge of the bed set against the wall, feet firmly on the ground and head bent toward his knees. Kageyama's hands were wrapped around the back of his neck, but it looked like his fingertips had slowly been pressing hard into his hands and dragging the skin towards his knuckles, leaving red and purple marks against the grey skin. His shoulders shuddered. Kageyama was shaking but it was as if he was keeping it contained in his upper body - anything to stop the bed moving. 

'Kageyama,' Hinata breathed as he stepped cautiously into the room, still shocked at the sight of his teammate so truly terrified and broken. The door behind him began to swing back from the force Hinata had pushed it open with, creaking eerily. Kageyama didn't react to any of those noises. He was lost in another world. 'Are you...OK?'

Kageyama's blue eyes snapped up. His hands quickly untangled themselves from behind his head and came to a halt at his side, poised above the bed.

There was a scowl on his face, and that was nothing new, but he regarded Hinata with a vast mixture of emotions Hinata had seen before - anger and annoyance, obviously, layered thinly over something Hinata had only recently witnessed: pain and panic. He was still panicking now, even though he was fairly safe, even though he was back with Hinata who'd come to get him out. He was hurt and just plain pissed off, but there was something else etched faintly on his face: defeat. 

Hinata jumped back instinctively, and he was wise to do so - there was a mere second where Kageyama's hands seemed to relax, but in a flash Kageyama was on his feet, those hands clutching tight at Hinata's shirt front, bunching up the fabric and drawing Hinata's face closer to his. The smaller was almost pulled off his feet.

'Am I _OK_?' Kageyama hissed, gripping Hinata's shirt so tight a knuckle cracked. 'Do you really need to ask me that?!'

'Uh...' Hinata faltered. He was used to seeing Kageyama angry at such close proximity, but seeing the rest of his current state so close was very different. His eyes were red and bloodshot, and his cheeks flushed pink with what Hinata supposed would be embarrassment at how truly scared he had been.

_You're not scared, Kageyama._

With a jolt Hinata remembered his words from earlier. No part of him thought _this_ would happen when he'd said that. He simply wanted to get them inside so they could explore, and tricking Kageyama and his competitive nature was the quickest route.

And Kageyama really hadn't seemed scared. Had he been? Hinata struggled to recall any signs that Kageyama had been properly scared before entering the house, but he thought of nothing - Kageyama couldn't always control his thoughts and emotions, but he definitely wouldn't want to be seen as weak, and yet that's all he was showing Hinata now. However hard Kageyama clutched his teammate's shirt, however loud he could yell, Hinata could see now he was terrified.

Kageyama shook Hinata, impatient at getting nothing out of him. 'This is all your fault, Hinata!' he growled.

'W...well, yeah, it is!' Hinata replied. Hurt though he was that this was his doing, he would readily admit to it. It's his fault; he bullied Kageyama into going into the house in the first place, never mind what he did afterward. It's his duty to make it right now. He's so often useless on the court, failing serves or getting blocked time and time again, but he makes up for it with his talent, and so he needed to redeem himself in this abandoned house, too, and save his friends. 

'I'm a dumbass,' said Hinata, realising it was the second time he'd said it today. 'But I'm a dumbass who's here to  _help you_ , Kageyama-'

' _Quit_ trying to help me!' Kageyama spat, Hinata's words seemingly igniting some extra energy in Kageyama. He lunged forward, still holding tightly to Hinata's shirt, lifting his teammate off of the ground and slamming him into the wall by the door. Air disappeared from Hinata's lungs and all he could do was gasp for breath as Kageyama's fists pressed tightly into his chest.

Weakly, Hinata kicked out with his feet but didn't make much of an impact, and he winced when his injured foot made contact with Kageyama's knee. His hands did a better job, one pushing Kageyama's shoulder and the other pulling at his dark hair, jerking his head to the side.

Maybe Hinata found strength hidden somewhere, or maybe Kageyama didn't have enough to keep his feet steady, but soon the force of Hinata pushing down on Kageyama's shoulder was enough to buckle his knees and send them both tumbling to the ground. 

' _Ow_!' they said at once as their heads knocked together. Hinata landed sprawled across Kageyama, his chest slamming painfully into his fists, taking his breath once more. His chest was sore inside and out now, his struggle to breathe harder than before, and he couldn't stop any strong coughs from escaping. The coughs made his eyes water, so for several moments he wasn't even aware of anything else, he just wanted to stop feeling like his insides were going to appear in front of him.

Kageyama was completely still. When Hinata stopped coughing and his vision was clear again, he looked toward Kageyama; his teammate was staring, glaring again, at Hinata, but his face was paler than it had already been. His eyes were bright, however, and the terror Hinata saw in them at first quickly shifted to anger.

'You _idiot_ ,' Kageyama hissed, shoving Hinata away from him. 'We could have broken through the floor, dumbass!'

 _It's not my fault!_ Hinata wanted to shoot back, but it seemed wrong to say that. Everything else was his fault, why not add this to the list? They didn't have time to argue about who _could have_ caused them to break through the floor - they needed to escape before it became a reality.

'Whatever, Kageyama,' Hinata said with a sigh, rolling over painfully and feeling tiny shards of glass shifting around him.

Kageyama didn't like Hinata's response one bit. Did he not realise how serious it was, how fragile the house can be? Anything could send the whole house crashing down. They weren't safe and they wouldn't be until the authorities arrived - if they ever did - and got them out. Kageyama was quite annoyed that Hinata in particular wasn't as broken as he was; Hinata was injured, he'd put himself in that crumbling house a second time, but still he had enough of himself left to keep a clear enough head, keep a clear goal of getting everyone out. He'd have been better off staying outside.

With a burst of anger, Kageyama jumped forward and grabbed at Hinata's shoulders, pushing him onto his back again and hearing glass crunch beneath their weight. Kageyama had used more force than intended and slammed Hinata to the floor, but it didn't cross Kageyama's mind this time that he might break through the floor. 

'Hey-Kageyama!' Hinata complained, pushing against Kageyama again.

The setter had him pinned down quite strongly. He fixed Hinata with a glare again, not really sure how to string together the words he wanted to throw his way. In Hinata's bright eyes he saw none of his own emotions mirrored; there was no panic over the prospect of the house crashing around them, no pain either, and he hardly even looked angry at Kageyama. Annoyed, perhaps, but not angry. Hinata's eyes were searching, glazing over Kageyama's expression and probably trying to work out what had happened - _well_ , thought Kageyama, _YOU happened, Hinata, you did this to me._

'Why are you so _calm_?' hissed Kageyama, close to Hinata's face.

'You think this is calm?' Hinata scoffed. 'Kageyama we need to get out of here, quickly!'

'I know that, dumbass!'

'Then _get off,_ you bastard!'

Hinata pushed harder and managed to roll them both to the side, so now Kageyama lay with his back against the floor and Hinata over him. Kageyama was winded momentarily, and Hinata quickly scrambled to get away from his insane teammate, but Kageyama's grip was still strong and he pulled him back down, rolling them back over again. He fell, this time, on top of Hinata, but it was still enough force to keep Hinata from getting up.

'K-Kage- _GERROFF_!' Hinata yelled now, impatient and intensely annoyed. 

Kageyama didn't appreciate the raised voice in such an unsteady structure, and he shook Hinata, bashing his shoulder blades against the floor. When Hinata complained with a loud _ow_ , Kageyama leaned closer, his teeth gritted and head full of words he still couldn't get together properly. He tightened his grip on Hinata's shoulders, and asked the first words that came to him.

'What did you fall off that ledge for?' 

Hinata blinked. 'What did I... GRAVITY, KAGEYAMA,' Hinata bellowed. Just _what_ is he playing at? Asking such a stupid question with such a serious expression? Hinata couldn't understand what had happened to Kageyama - he should have called him a dumbass and probably a few other names, but that would have been it for the scolding. _How dare you get hurt and stop yourself from being the ultimate decoy, dumbass!_ \- something like that. He didn't have to throw him against the floor and spit such ridiculous questions at him. 'I didn't _mean_ to fall off, it just happened, obviously!'

Hinata took a deep breath, wondering why Kageyama was being so intense about this. They're not exactly friends but they are teammates, so he'd expect Kageyama to be upset or annoyed if Hinata were injured - everyone else was upset, and Hinata didn't think Kageyama completely heartless - but this was a bit much. _Why did you fall?_ Then again... out on the ledge, a terrified Kageyama had only Hinata beside him trying to keep him sane, and then he dropped to the ground. Whatever broken state he was in, it must have been a blow to see the positive Hinata falling and injuring himself. 

Hinata's expression had softened as they stared at each other and Kageyama felt his face grow hot. He slowly released his hold on Hinata's shirt, and Hinata quickly shuffled away from under Kageyama at the earliest opportunity.

Kageyama knelt now beside the bed, his body oozing defeat. His head was dipped, his breathing heavy, his face cast in shadow but pink underneath. His shoulders sagged and he just looked worn out, completely unlike when he'd been practicing hard - then he had more of a glow, like he was pleased that he could hardly breathe afterward.

Hinata needed to get him out of there. He knew Kageyama well enough to suppose that he'd be able to throw on a mask and convince himself and others that he was the same, but this was what lay beneath it. If they didn't get out soon, this defeated state would show more and more through the thin mask, and Hinata couldn't allow that. 

'Come on,' Hinata said. Clinging to the bedpost he pulled himself up and slowly stepped around Kageyama, opening the creaking door wider. His foot hurt more now, and he didn't even try to hide his limp in front of Kageyama. His energy was running low, and that was extreme for that little ball of sunshine, but him showing his injury was more a way to admit to Kageyama that he wasn't the only one who'd been broken, and that Hinata was OK to let Kageyama know that. 'We need to look for another way out.'

Knowing Kageyama would eventually follow, Hinata walked out of the room and straight into the corridor. There was no way he could coax Kageyama into leaving via the window; no matter how safe a plan it seemed - by now surely they'd all realised none of their plans could be safe - there was a huge chance that Kageyama would freeze again. The corridor to the foyer stairs was blocked now, so unless they could clear that they'd need a new exit.

'So?' grunted Kageyama from behind. 'You'd better have a plan that  _will_  work this time.'

Hinata held his head high. 'This way,' he said confidently, leading his broken teammate around the unexplored part of their floor, silently praying for a clear exit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I rewatched some of HQ!! and when I was writing this I thought... that's not Kageyama or Hinata... but idk is it?? With what they'd been through earlier in the fic it is still believable, right? Gosh I don't know. It's hard to portray Hinata and Kageyama well enough in a totally different situation...  
> Uh yeah so comments and kudos are deeply loved and seriously thanks so much for reading even if you don't give kudos or whatever, I just hope you enjoyed and will continue to enjoy!


	12. Escape Plan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We revisit those on the top floor (finally) and follow Yamaguchi's attempts at helping them.

Noya's decline had been quick.

Tanaka supposed he'd been wasting too much energy on keeping the pain from rising to the surface. He had nothing left in him now to stop his face creasing up, his teeth clenching together, or his nails from dragging against the wooden floor. 

Obviously, Tanaka knew why he'd done it; for them. He hadn't wanted his friends to worry, which they were doing anyway. Noya did have a piece of wood sticking out of his leg - anyone who didn't worry over that wouldn't be a very good friend. Noya, however, was an amazing friend, doing so much just to look strong in front of Tanaka and Asahi. 

Tanaka wanted to hug him and smack him at the same time.

His sudden decline had not only made his condition more severe, but it had sent Asahi into a crazed panic.

'What's wrong, Noya?! Is it your leg? Is the scarf too tight? It's probably not helping anyway... Or have you hit your head?!' He frantically fussed over Noya, checking he was as comfortable as was possible and his leg was raised high enough to stop the bleeding, or whatever the point of doing that was. Asahi's shaking hand moved to check Noya's temperature, but even Tanaka by the window could see his flushed face and the sweat rolling down his cheeks.

'I'm fine, Asahi,' Noya mumbled, his mouth hardly opening. Unsurprisingly, nobody was convinced. 

One minute he'd been chatting normally to keep them all calm, making jokes about Asahi's whimpering, and in the next moment he looked like someone had sucked all the energy from him. He looked smaller, thinner and more gaunt, his skin alternating between sickly green and deathly pale. 

Tanaka looked back out the window. Now only Daichi and Tsukishima weren't in the house. That was worrying. Hinata and Yamaguchi had gone back inside to help the rest out, and now Suga was inside too; what if something happened to them?! It was beyond hopeless to help the three on the top floor out, anyway, given how Noya couldn't move and the corridors were blocked. At least they could get Kageyama out, and hopefully Tsukishima will have called for help by then. Tanaka didn't want his friends trying to force their way through their unstable floor on the off-chance they might be of some use.

You couldn't see through the trees at the edge of the garden, so it might take a while even for the authorities to find them. How had Noya even discovered this place? Pretty much everyone knew of the old factory nearby - even his sister Saeko had mentioned it - but nobody had ever spotted this gothic disaster before Noya. Or, if they had, nobody had taken notice, so what had Noya so intrigued?

Saeko had actually explored that abandoned factory in her school days. Tanaka remembered her coming home late one night after school, with a few cuts on her face and a gash on her leg, saying she'd fallen and scratched herself. Only years later had she told Tanaka about the factory, saying that though it was fun, it was pretty dull. Students just used it as a place to hide away whilst they smoked or drank or whatever, so there hadn't been much to explore. This abandoned house, however, was far from dull, but it certainly wasn't _fun_. 

As Tanaka prodded at his arm to see how badly it still hurt, he heard creaks from above. He looked straight to his friends - Asahi's eyes frantically searched the crack above them, watching for anything to fall, and Noya forced his eyes open, but he seemed too weak to register anything. Those two were more or less in the centre of the debris, not beneath the edge of the crack, but something could still fall and hurt them or bring the whole house crashing down.

The creaks grew louder, closer. Crashes came, too. Had something dislodged itself above them? Had some other, tiny thing moved from its place, as the shelf in the library had, and now they'd just have to watch as a chain reaction buried them again? Tanaka stepped forward, moving slowly around the pile, wincing slightly at the creaks his own feet made on the floor. He, too, looked through to the attic, but the little light shining through the roof illuminated nothing. They didn't know how much of that attic was left to fall, but maybe they weren't far from finding out. 

 

* * *

 

Yamaguchi couldn't get to the third floor. 

He'd psyched himself up so much - well, a little - and convinced himself he would be able to help since he was most capable of doing so, but now he was faced with a wall just as terrifying as the ones they all talked about facing on the court.

This was more like a spider's web, though. 

The stairs to the final floor were just around the corner from the balcony. It was a long, steep mahogany staircase with ornate decoration on the handrail, just like the other set of stairs in the house, but this one was cluttered with the fallen ceiling. He could see enough littering the top to know he wouldn't be able to shift it all himself without getting buried.

Still, he climbed the stairs. It was at the top where he realised how the debris hadn't just crashed down, but how it had intertwined so finely that one false move would likely bring the whole attic crashing down. Boards and bits of furniture lodged themselves in any available gaps, so even as a shaking Yamaguchi knelt to inspect the damage, he wasn't able to find any way through that wouldn't trap him. 

He stood back and took a breath. 

And then he ran back down. 

He couldn't get through that. Like a fly on a web, he'd get stuck pretty quickly, and then it'd just be a matter of waiting until the house devoured him along with his friends.

Yamaguchi held tightly to the handrail at the bottom, one foot on the floor and one on the stair. He could still very easily back out entirely; the balcony was free from debris, and the stairs led straight to the foyer from there, so the front door was within his reach. Or, if he couldn't chicken out that much, he could always go and help Hinata. Eventually, though, he'd either be crushed or have to try to get to the top floor. It didn't take long for Yamaguchi to realise which path he preferred, but seeing how difficult a path it was still made him nervous. And this path could lead to him being crushed, too. One thing was certain, though; Yamaguchi was absolutely useless panicking at the foot of the stairs. He had to move somewhere, help somehow, or else what was the point of his teammates worrying outside?

He looked to his right where the corridor carried on around a bend, and as far as Yamaguchi could see, it was clear. Partly hopeful it might reveal another way upstairs, and partly just needing to get away from the sight at the top of the stairs, Yamaguchi went to investigate the rest of the floor. 

There was a bit of debris around the bend, but it was easy enough for Yamaguchi to manoeuvre around it. Succeeding there made him feel a little more confident, but he still shook. 

Bright light burst through a long window on his right about halfway down this corridor, illuminating another set of stairs. Yamaguchi had to blink away spots from his vision, for the rest of the house was so dark compared with the bright white of the clouds outside, but he saw this staircase wound up to the top floor and - most importantly - was intact and free of debris. The corridor just past it was cracked and broken, so Yamaguchi saw the stairs as the better option anyway. Slowly, he climbed, gripping hard at the railing. Yamaguchi didn't want to look out the window in case it convinced him to get safely back to the ground, but the view at the top of the stairs could easily send him running.

The intricate debris stretched to here, too. It didn't block the whole corridor, so Yamaguchi still made it to the next floor, but he couldn't move very far down it. He could hardly even _see_ through the blockage. With a sigh, he turned to go back downstairs. 

Something moved past his face then, just grazing his ear, and he jumped a mile, swatting his hand out to hit whatever had attacked him. He realised pretty quickly, feeling ridiculous, that it was just a bead tied to a piece of string that was hanging from the ceiling. His eyes followed the string upward. There in the ceiling was a wide square door, one that Yamaguchi knew led to the attic. 

There was no hesitation. Yamaguchi yanked the string, and stood back as the stairs fell down.

He worried only after he'd pulled the string that maybe this would topple the whole house - it lead to the epicentre of the collapse, after all - but nothing fell but the creaking stairs. This path was free of debris and quite possibly his only option.

Soon both feet stood solidly on the floor of the attic, and Yamaguchi looked out at his chosen path. The attic was dark. Only thin stripes of light broke through the roof, though it was still just enough light for Yamaguchi to spot how many holes were in this floor. He had to be incredibly careful where he stepped, watching closely for any movement - if something began to fall beneath him, he'd just jump anywhere he could with the hope it would hold. 

There wasn't a lot of clutter left in the attic. The cracks left behind by what had fallen varied in size; some still had furniture teetering on the edge, and Yamaguchi made sure to avoid them entirely. He knew Tanaka, Asahi and Noya would be on the complete other side of the house, and it might as well have been another continent entirely. It'd be one hell of a trek to reach them. 

Being so nervous made it harder, but Yamaguchi was impressed at how he'd gotten so far without any problems. Though he was possibly at the highest and most unstable part of the house he had managed to find a way to check on the others stuck on the top floor. Getting them out through there was yet another mountain to climb, so Yamaguchi ignored that for now. He continued stepping carefully around and, eventually, spotted the largest gap so far, hoping with all he had that he'd found them - the lack of noise coming from two of the noisiest on the team was unnerving, but he still hurried to the edge of the crack.

He felt the boards bending under his weight and stayed totally still as he came to the edge, staring down at the disaster his teammates were knee-deep in.

'Yamaguchi?! How'd ya get up there?' called Tanaka. The second year looked blue in the face from holding his breath so long, but he had a bewildered smile on his face now, glad help had reached them. Asahi's smile looked a little more forced and laced with worry seeing Yamaguchi on the edge.

'I...er... are you OK?' Yamaguchi asked, distracted by the sight of them and the mess that had fallen. What did it matter how he got there? They needed a way out, and it didn't seem likely the attic was the solution. 

'No!' Asahi said, shaking his head so vigorously that strands of his hair flew about his face. His smile had slid away and he looked back toward Noya who was now white as a sheet. The effort of opening his eyes looked like it hurt. Yamaguchi hadn't realised Nishinoya's condition was so bad - when he noticed the spike of wood in their libero's leg Yamaguchi felt sick.

'Noya ain't doing well,' said Tanaka with a sigh. Even he knew that was a massive understatement. 'What did Daichi say about getting us out?'

'He...he's still trying to get help,' Yamaguchi managed. Tanaka might not appreciate hearing their captain had been so adamant that nobody go back inside to help. Daichi really was upset by their situation, though, and if anything happened to those he'd let back inside, he'd probably never forgive himself - yet another reason why they  _needed_  to get back out of that place. 

'Right...' said Tanaka, scratching his head with the uninjured arm. Asahi looked lost, but his hands were poised beside Noya, like he was prepared to latch onto him if anything were to happen. Tanaka wondered if the attic might be their best way out - if Asahi could safely throw Noya and Tanaka up to the attic and somehow haul himself up too, they'd be fine, or if they could climb up a huge stack of debris to the attic, but both those options seemed ridiculous. 'Yamaguchi, is there anything useful up there?' he asked.

'Useful how?' There wasn't much as far as Yamaguchi could see. He moved around slowly, hunting carefully through the mess in the attic. It was mostly broken furniture, really, and none of it screamed 'useful'. 

'Like...a ladder?' suggested Tanaka, but he shook his head immediately. A ladder would be stupid. 'Nah... how's about a hammock, or anything we could use to pick him up?'

'Ryuu, are you suggesting you carry me like a baby?' asked a croaky, but smiling Noya.

'Either that or Asahi could carry you like a firefighter,' grinned Tanaka, a comment unaccompanied by his usual loud laughter.

Noya scrunched up his nose. 'I'd rather wait for the real firemen,' he said. 'Asahi would probably drop me.'

Despite their situation, the two of them laughed as a flustered Asahi protested that he'd never dare drop Noya in his state, and Yamaguchi felt a smile tug at his lips too. It didn't stick, though, as he was determined to find something to help them. He still shifted carefully through the mess, occasionally uncovering a weak-looking crack and finding his hands shaking uncontrollably at the sight. Any tiny movement could have him dropping through the floor. Yamaguchi didn't make a habit of inspecting the cracks he found, especially when he spotted one that stretched down two floors, but he froze when he saw movement in a gap below.

'S-sugawara!' stuttered Yamaguchi, who'd spotted his teammate struggling through the spider's web of debris on the third floor. Sugawara had his head stuck through the mess at an odd, uncomfortable-looking angle, with his arm draped over a board cutting past his neck, and his face was red with the effort of getting through it.

'Yamaguchi!' Suga grinned, blowing away a strand of his grey hair. 'How did you get up there!?'

Yamaguchi quickly explained how to get to the attic and what he was looking for now, speaking quickly and rambling about Noya's condition, so much so that Suga stopped him mid-panic. 'Right, I'll be there soon,' he promised, slowly and carefully turning around in the tight spot he'd found himself in. 'You carry on - but be careful!'

'Bu...' Yamaguchi started, though there was no time or point in objecting. He remembered how Sugawara and Daichi had argued outside, and now Sugawara had worked his way in to help, so Yamaguchi really couldn't tell him to stay back since he really didn't think it safe. He would feel better, though, having him there, which was a thought that made him feel horrible. Having an older, wiser, even generally just a more confident teammate at his side now would make the load he was carrying a little lighter, but that really was a selfish way to think. Most of him was just glad their captain was still outside, hopefully making sure Tsukki stayed unharmed.

Yamaguchi took a deep breath and carried on through the attic searching in vain for several minutes before Sugawara made it to his side. 

'Good job, Yamaguchi,' he said, placing a hand on his shoulder and squeezing. Yamaguchi wasn't sure what he was being praised on but he took it anyway, and watched as Suga pulled on a bigger smile and carefully stood by the edge of the crack.

The others sounded brighter immediately just seeing Suga above them. 

'Suga!' Tanaka practically cheered. 'Am I glad to see you!'

Suga laughed. 'Good to see you're doing alright, Tanaka, besides the obvious. Noya, how are you doing?' he called down.

Noya had begun to stir more hearing Suga was around, and he tried to sit up despite Asahi's constant protests. 'Awesome, never better,' he replied croakily, and Suga giggled again but rolled his eyes.

'Well you don't look it,' he said. 'And how are you, Asahi?'

'I...I've been better,' said Asahi. He tried to hide the whimper in his voice, but you could still tell he was a wreck. Noya even stretched over his shoulder to pat Asahi reassuringly on the arm, which only made Asahi feel worse and darkened the shade of red across his cheeks.

'Has anyone spoke to Daichi since I left?' asked Suga.

'No.'

'Tanaka could you let him know Yamaguchi and I are here?'

'Alright!' said Tanaka, bouncing over to the window. 

'We'll see if anything up here will help,' Suga promised. Yamaguchi watched the worry fading from his teammates trapped below. Tanaka was more himself now, a lot more free and it seemed like he forgot where he was as he bounced on the floorboards and threw the window open so hard, but that was a good sign - one that he was confident and optimistic, something they all needed a dose of right now. Asahi didn't exactly look optimistic or even hopeful, but he looked less like he was witnessing the apocalypse. And Noya, he still looked pale and on the verge of passing out completely, but he had one last burst of energy in him and he was going to use it as he watched his friends succeeding in getting them safely out.

When Suga turned to Yamaguchi, things didn't seem as bright. 

His smile had dropped completely. Yamaguchi hadn't seen an expression so dark and severe on Sugawara, ever. He'd seen him upset, stressed, nervous, whatever you could name, but not this - _utter despair_ came to mind. Being so close to the disaster and seeing his friends so hurt, after already having been trapped himself, surely had taken its toll on him. Yamaguchi noticed, too, how Suga had tiny scratches across his face, likely from his escape from the boards below that Yamaguchi had been too scared to brave.

'Come on, Yamaguchi,' Sugawara said quietly. 'Let's look for something...'

A hundred ideas began swirling around Suga's mind. He grabbed at them until he found something that might just work, and along with Yamaguchi they set out to find what they needed. Often their path was changed as a new idea came forward, or when Yamaguchi spotted a flaw Suga had overlooked, and they were both very aware of how much time was passing. 

It hadn't exactly been a race against time before when Suga was trapped in the cellar with Daichi. They had little battery on their phones, sure, but time was mostly irrelevant as their big issue was finding a way out. In the attic they had the same goal, but now with the added pressure of Noya being as unwell as he was, and the knowledge that the house had probably had enough by now so could collapse completely at any moment. It was bad enough for Suga when he knew Daichi had injured himself multiple times in the cellar, but now he had to look after three of his injured friends and Yamaguchi, who had so far been spared, thank goodness.

Tanaka's original idea of a hammock to lift Noya up seemed like the best option for them, despite multiple flaws they couldn't battle with. Suga and Yamaguchi eventually found enough fabric scraps in the attic to tie together, which would make a sort of swing when they each held an end over the crack, and they'd be able to haul Noya up to their level. 

Asahi looked skeptically at the thing they expected him to load Noya onto. 'Are you sure that's safe?' He hadn't yet moved Noya from the spot where he'd found him, worried still that moving him would be too dangerous. His wound was still bleeding, after all. 

Suga's optimistic smile had returned. It seemed to have only disappeared for Yamaguchi, and Yamaguchi wasn't quite sure how that made him feel. 'It's tied tight enough to carry his weight, Asahi,' said Suga, only slightly ignoring giving a proper answer. 'Once we've pulled him up here, though, we'll have to help him down the stairs. I don't really have a plan for getting you two up here,' he admitted, scratching his head.

'It's OK, Suga, just get Noya out!' said Tanaka. Asahi nodded in agreement, but Noya pulled a face.

'Don't sound so dramatic, Ryuu,' Noya slurred, and Suga wanted to laugh at _Noya_ telling someone to be less over-the-top. 'Suga will find a way for us all to get out, right!'

Suga tilted his head to the side and smiled brightly, glad only Yamaguchi was close enough to hear his sad sigh. 'One step at a time, though, yeah?' He turned back to Yamaguchi, who'd wanted to check the knots were tight enough. 'Are we ready?'

'Yeah, I think so,' Yamaguchi said quietly. He hadn't stopped being nervous and so now he just stayed quiet and out of the way, letting those who knew what they were doing take charge. For once he was glad not being part of something, but he still needed to be there to help now, and it had his fingers shaking again.

Suga bent to grab the other end of the bits of cloth they'd connected and started to pull it out neatly to drape down. He had to tug hard to loosen one part, and he'd thought it had simply been stuck on the jagged floor, but it wasn't that - it had been trapped under Yamaguchi's foot.

Pulling the knotted clothes away made Yamaguchi lose his balance, and being so close to the gaping hole in the attic floor meant the first year began to fall.

'Yamaguchi!' Suga dropped the clothes and jumped to grab his teammate, throwing himself forward and somehow getting under Yamaguchi, where he was able to push him back to the more solid attic floor. The force of pushing him, however, had been too much to keep Suga's feet firmly on the ground, and now they hovered in the air, the tips of his shoes only brushing the splinters at the very edge of the crack.

'SUGA!'

It didn't matter any more how loudly they called, for the house had finally had enough. Had it been a feather or Suga falling to that pile, it probably wouldn't have mattered; the smallest weight was enough to break through the floor by this point. 

Suga's body dropped onto the debris Asahi had cleared through earlier, and seconds later the four boys and the attic clutter were in the air, falling together through to the floor below. They all scrambled to grab onto something, but still they crashed down, landing with a loud and heavy bang on the next floor. Glass cracked and more furniture was crushed, and dust fell from above. It had only taken seconds for them to fall and for the loud crash to become just an echo - the tiny, unimportant sound of boards shifting down the pile was all Yamaguchi could hear from the attic as he looked down. All he could see moving was the clouds of dust. 

He did hear some faint sounds from outside, though; Daichi was shouting to them, and Yamaguchi heard Tsukki calling out too. It snapped Yamaguchi out of his daze on the edge of the even more dangerous crack, and he leapt through the attic back to the stairs that had brought them to this mess in the first place. He skidded down the corridors so he could hurry to helping his friends before anything else happened - Yamaguchi dreaded to think what came under that category, though.

The other four had crashed right through some rooms on the next floor down, flattening the furniture. 

Tanaka had been on the very edge of this collapse, so when he'd fallen he'd rolled down the side of the pile, where he now lay still. Asahi had, instinctively, wrapped his arms around Noya to try and protect him from further harm - and it had mostly worked; Noya blinked dust from his eyes as he stared at the new crack above him, but his gaze drifted to the body lolling over him now. Asahi wasn't moving, but he had a tight grip on Noya, and his body had indeed stopped Noya from further harm by taking the blow himself. Sitting up a little, Noya peered over the pile of clutter and saw Suga lying on the top. Like the others, Suga had been knocked unconscious, and Noya couldn't tell if he had any injuries.

Noya tried to ignore the pain in his leg, panicking instead over how his friends were now in trouble as he had been. Somewhere in the house he could hear movement - Yamaguchi, hopefully, still awake and well - and shouting came from outside. Noya threw back his head, hoping with all he had that Hinata and Kageyama were out already, not trapped under this new collapse somewhere, and that nobody else would try to work their way inside.

If his friends were hurt any worse than he was, Noya would never forgive himself for leading them there and causing the collapse in the first place.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did promise more Asahi, Tanaka and Noya, so there you go!  
> ...I'm so sorry. I don't know why they get the worst of it all in this fic.  
> This was such a hard chapter to write and I apologise for it taking so long!


	13. So Close

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Several POVs, kinda jumping around most of the characters. First there's Hinata and Kageyama, who find a new way out, then we see Yamaguchi and the others faced with this newest disaster.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's a fun drinking game for this chapter: drink every time you see the word "fine" ...I used it everywhere here, sorry.  
> 

'Kageyama, come on, it'll be _fine_.'

'You've said something like that before,' Kageyama huffed.

Kageyama kept his hand firmly on the wall, gripping tight at where the boards had broken away to leave the jagged edge. He and Hinata had made their way down the corridor - the only way around that Hinata hadn't blocked - but came across a huge hole in the ground that they'd never be able to safely jump across. The floor had broken away, as had the ceiling above their heads; the debris collected together in a jagged, unsteady pyramid shape poking through the gap. Seeing yet another dead end made Kageyama's stomach drop and he wanted more than anything to run back to that bedroom and curl up on the floor again. 

Hinata hadn't let them see this as another fail, however. He stepped forward and tested the boards at the edge, then kicked at the mountain of debris, despite Kageyama's protesting. Kageyama realised quickly what Hinata's plan was: _let's climb down it!_

It was surprisingly steady, but both first years knew it wouldn't last. Hinata wanted to hurry up before it broke completely, and Kageyama wanted to not go near that dangerous pile at all for the same reason.

'It has been fine, so far,' countered Hinata. 'Come  _on_.'

Hinata had managed to find a safe-looking way down. It held his weight surprisingly well when he stood on that first plank, and he'd now climbed so far down that only his torso was above the crack in the floor. Kageyama had been only a step behind him the whole way out of the bedroom, but now he kept his distance. Hinata wondered when exactly enough of the old Kageyama would surface and join his descent, not wanting to lose to Hinata.

'Why do we have to climb down it, anyway?' asked Kageyama. 'You could have climbed _across_ to the other side.'

'And then where?' Hinata said with a sigh. 'I don't know what's around that corner. Sugawara said he'd escaped through the cellar, and that,' he pointed down through the darkness, where a slightly blacker square sat in the floor of what he hoped was the kitchen. 'That looks like the cellar door.'

'Are you telling me you _don't_ _know_ if this will definitely lead outside?!' 

Hinata shrugged. 'We'll only know if we try, right?' He looked back up at his teammate when he heard his faint growls of annoyance. 'What? Do you think sitting around doing nothing would be a better plan?' he asked, a slight smirk on his face, knowing the words would likely infuriate Kageyama at least a little bit.

Kageyama clenched his teeth and looked quickly away. He supposed Hinata was right, but Kageyama could clearly see several disastrous outcomes from their new escape route: one or both of them could fall, bringing the pyramid crashing down along with them; the house might collapse on top of them before they even get to the cellar; or in the cellar they could get trapped, like Daichi and Sugawara had been.

The first scenario was most likely for the moment. Hinata wasn't graceful at all, and he'd already injured his leg, and Kageyama still didn't trust his own feet to keep him steady. When he took a deep breath, now on the edge of the crack having decided he might as well follow Hinata, Kageyama began counting to ten to steady his breathing and ease his shaking. He stopped himself, though - that hadn't really done any good on the ledge, had it? He had moved as slowly and carefully as he could, but the ledge still broke away and Hinata had still fallen. He was torn, too, as part of him still wanted to stay put, but slowly more of him was inclined to get out of that house by any means available - and right now, this gaping hole and pyramid of debris was his only means. Hinata was moving further and further from him, quickly being engulfed by the darkness this old house seemed to be full of now.

He followed exactly in Hinata's footsteps. 

Hinata seemed confident at where he stepped, and so far he'd been OK. His bad leg still gave him trouble though - Kageyama often heard him muttering _ow_ to himself or wincing in pain. It made Kageyama wonder how he was so often nervous in volleyball matches but not now, when their lives were threatened. He remembered the practice match where Hinata served the ball into the back of Kageyama's head, and how that was the scariest thing he could experience, so nothing else that day would make Hinata as nervous. Was that still the scariest thing to Hinata? Was Kageyama just _that_ terrifying? On that ledge when they were stuck he'd actually been _bouncing_ , making the ledge wobble, since he was so... was it _happy_? Well, if anyone could be happy in such a situation, it'd be Hinata. 

Kageyama knew, too, that Hinata was pitying him. You couldn't tell exactly because it was Hinata - he's pretty dim - but Kageyama could feel it. He acted like their scrap in the bedroom was nothing, in fact he acted like nothing else had happened between them that day except they'd been trapped, pure and simple. Again, that could just be dim Hinata, but Kageyama felt like he was being watched, checked on. Hinata wanted to know Kageyama was still there, still a step closer to being outside again, still breathing like a normal person. 

He couldn't get mad at Hinata for that. He felt angry, but he didn't act on it again. It wouldn't do any good. Once again, Hinata was being bizarrely brave and looking everywhere for a way out. 

Really, all Kageyama wanted was to be away from that house and get back to normal. He hated what that place was doing to his head, how his chest wasn't working properly anymore. The sooner he and Hinata were out and back to normal, the better. And Kageyama swore to himself that he'd be normal again quickly, for he couldn't deal with Hinata _and_ the rest of the team looking at him with such pity.

'You OK, Kageyama?' Hinata called back without looking up. He was only a few steps from the floor now.

'Yeah,' he muttered, though he had been stood in the same spot for an awful long time now. His entire body was now in the room below, except his fingertips, which insisted on staying stuck to the broken floor above them. When Kageyama let go it would mean he's got nothing but the pile of debris to cling to. However, once Hinata gets to the bottom he'd be able to see Kageyama's hesitation, even through the dark, and Kageyama couldn't deal with any additional pity. He slowly let go of the ceiling, making sure his feet were steady, and he carried on down the pile. It was hard to follow where Hinata had stepped, but Hinata actually proved helpful in guiding him once he had reached the floor.

Well, as helpful as he could be. He crouched, squinting at where Kageyama's feet moved to, giving directions but not sounding confident with them as he _ummed_ and pulled faces. Nonetheless, and with a fair few insults thrown between the pair, Kageyama soon made it to the ground, surprised at them both, and they looked around at the destruction of what was once the kitchen.

Suga hadn't said much to Hinata about his experience there. He saw now that the place really looked like a bomb had hit it. Dust still sprinkled from the ceiling and small bits of wood shifted about, sliding down the broken countertop or from the cracks above. The massive pile of debris took up so much space that it forced them into a tiny corner, and Hinata was glad he knew they had an escape through the floor. He moved quickly toward it, even more eager to jump through that dark hole and find their way out.

Hinata still hesitated a bit before climbing down the stairs. He couldn't see anything properly, just a faint glow. When he sat on the edge and kicked his feet out, they made contact with the stairs, and knowing Hinata wouldn't simply fall through the dark was good enough for him - he was hopping down the stairs, gripping at the railing that rattled as he moved, but he reached the ground without a problem. His injured leg hurt more than it had before, but that may be because Hinata was less distracted by moving debris now, or that he was no longer being thrown about and slammed to the ground.

His eyes adjusted quickly to the darker cellar, and Hinata could make out the shapes of crates and beams around them, but most importantly he could see light.

He grinned brightly, allowing himself a laugh. 'See?' he beamed. 'There is a way out!' 

Kageyama tilted his head to look around the crates blocking full view of their exit, and he huffed. 'If we can get to it.'

Hinata groaned and threw up his arms. 'Why are you still so negative?'

'Anything could happen!' Kageyama spat back immediately.

'Or it couldn't,' Hinata reasoned, turning away and holding his hands out in front of him so they could begin moving. 'We're fine, Kageyama.'

But Hinata really didn't think Kageyama was anything close to _fine_ yet. Just as he'd thought, Kageyama had pulled a mask tightly over his face. Though his hands still shook and he sounded different somehow, Kageyama was still scared of even the specks of dust that flew by. This whole adventure had messed him up.

It had only taken a minute or so for Kageyama to hide away his emotions there. He could probably keep it locked up for a while. Was that a good thing, though? Probably not.

Hinata glanced back at his teammate - in the darkness of the cellar he could only make out his outline and a spot of light in his eyes. Whatever lay beneath that was Hinata's fault, and Hinata would likely take the blow when it came to be too much to keep it hidden. Kageyama _would_ get back to normal again, right? Surely once they got out he would be able to get back to normal. He might still be haunted by what happened there that day, but Hinata hoped it wouldn't creep into everything he does - would his hands shake that badly next time they played volleyball? _Could_ he still play? Well, it's Kageyama, he would find a way to play, but if for some reason he was unable to play as amazingly as he had been, Hinata would be slaughtered. Will every little problem Kageyama comes across be blamed on his experience in that house, on Hinata? Will Hinata be blamed by everyone?

Hinata's stomach flipped and he felt queasy. He was OK with Kageyama blaming him for what had happened to him; he'd gone through it along with him so it seemed easier to accept. The rest of what happened in the house, however, was still his fault, and his teammates probably saw it like that too. 

They'll all hate him, won't they? 

Daichi was already angry that he'd run in, and that had led to Yamaguchi and Sugawara following. Sugawara would probably be angry, too, especially after Hinata had almost buried him a second time - _angry Sugawara_ , Hinata thought that sounded more terrifying than their angry captain. He didn't want to see how Asahi looked at him, either - that would be such a blow, given how Hinata idolises their ace. And Tanaka and Nishinoya would definitely hate him; Noya was really badly injured, and both of them wouldn't let something like this fade away any time soon. Yamaguchi had been dragged in despite not being involved initially, too, so Hinata didn't expect either Yamaguchi or Tsukishima to be too happy about that. Yachi would be a mess worrying about everyone, as well, and Kiyoko wouldn't be happy... _oh, God_ , Hinata thought, _I'm screwed_. 

So many voices ran through his mind as he walked, almost in a daze, around the cellar clutter. Those of his teammates, their coach, and countless others they'd encountered so far - friends, family and opponents from Seijoh and Nekoma and whoever else, all blaming him because Karasuno _has_ fallen. 

A loud sigh broke through his horrifying daydream, and Kageyama's voice brought him back to the present. 'What is it?'

'Huh?' Hinata half-turned to Kageyama and was glad the extremity of his dozy expression couldn't be seen right now in the dark.

'You stopped. What made you stop?'

Hinata blinked, not realising he had come to a corner and hadn't bothered trying to move around the obstacle. 'Oh, uh, I...' 

He gulped to stall for time whilst he tried to say " _everyone's going to kill me!_ " in a way that didn't sound so dramatic, but even if he had said anything, it would have been instantly drowned out by the loud crash that came from above.

Both boys reacted like they'd been given an electric shock; Hinata jumped and turned, trying to find the path he'd been following, and Kageyama rushed forward, gripping hard to the back of Hinata's shirt and pushing so he'd move quicker. The crash they heard lasted only a few seconds, but it was followed by long, low groans along the rest of the house, which for all they knew could very soon cause yet another collapse and demolish their only exit.

They made it, though. Nothing broke through the cellar to crush them, and both Hinata and Kageyama emerged into the garden, panting like they'd just run a marathon. 

Hinata scrambled up from where he'd fallen on the grass, exhausted, and ran around the nearest corner. It hardly mattered to Hinata anymore where Kageyama was - he was safe now, and he certainly wasn't going to go back inside - Hinata was more concerned about the crash and who'd been caught in it, if anyone.

When he came to the front of the house, Hinata was glad to see at least someone wasn't in the house still, but only two of his other teammates were here. Tsukishima was stood out in the garden, but he hovered on the edge of the grass, as if he'd been ordered to stay behind this point but wanted so badly to break past it. Daichi probably gave him that order. Their captain didn't follow the same rule to stay back, however; he was stood right against the house, his neck bent all the way back. His loud calls began to fade away as his voice started cracking, strained from shouting so much.

'Oh-Hinata!' he said, a brief flash of a smile on his face. 'Is Kageyama with you? Is he OK? Are you?'

'Fine, fine,' panted Hinata at the exact moment Kageyama came running around the corner.

'What happened?' he asked, looking disappointed too that only four of the nine were safe and not involved in this newest crash.

'We didn't see exactly,' Daichi replied, rolling his sore shoulders and looking back up at the house. 'But we think the top floor collapsed.'

'Eh? How?' 

'No idea. Nobody had said anything for a while, but we know Suga and Yamaguchi were in the attic...' he trailed off, shrugging then wincing at how that hurt. 'The authorities are on their way, though, so _do not_ go back inside, OK?'

Hinata remembered clearly what Suga had asked of him -  _promise me that once you and Kageyama are out, you'll_ stay _out._  Hinata had avoided promising such a thing then, but he had to follow Daichi's orders this time, especially as recalled how worried Suga had been about Daichi being stressed. 'I won't!'

Daichi didn't even expect Kageyama to want to go back inside, so he just nodded and went back to looking for signs of their friends.

'I saw something,' said Tsukishima suddenly. 'The window on the right, second storey... YAMAGUCHI?' he called loudly, watching closely for any further movement.

Daichi jogged backwards to get a better view. 'Did you see him?'

'I don't know who I saw,' Tsukishima admitted. 'Someone was there.' He pointed at the window where he saw movement, then moved his finger along the windows to where he'd seen everything falling. The outer walls and even windows were still in tact, so they couldn't see very well through such murky glass, and now he'd lost sight of the figure and any other people inside. Tsukishima knew, though, that the floor must have collapsed, for so much had fallen and now nobody was available to let them know what the situation was.

Tanaka had been acting as messenger whilst Asahi looked after Noya, and Suga and Yamaguchi were in the attic trying to find a way to get everyone safely out. Tsukki would have preferred Yamaguchi be messenger, but he was unharmed and there to help, so he was of better use in the attic. Now he just hoped Yamaguchi would stay up there, or at least not run about the unstable house like the figure he'd seen had been. 

Tsukishima supposed, though, that if Yamaguchi weren't the person running around, he might have fallen with the top floor. Yamaguchi, and their teammates, could be stuck in an even worse position now, and Tsukishima _needed_ to know for sure what was happening. He'd taken so long to contact the authorities and still they didn't know how long it would be until they arrived - absolutely anything could happen between now and then; the floor dropping might not yet be the worst they'll have to face.

Tsukishima didn't know what else to say. He concentrated on identifying anyone he saw upstairs, and Daichi left him to it, wandering closer to the house. 

It was quiet now. It had been quiet just before the collapse, too, but this was different. Before they'd known their friends were as OK as they could be, so they knew they must be talking and breathing still up there - now, however, they had no idea. 

Daichi put himself between the three first years and the door. Hinata and Kageyama stayed well back, though. Hinata sat on the stone floor near the grass, finally letting his injured leg rest. Daichi thought maybe he should allow his shoulders to heal, too, but he couldn't stay still long enough knowing the others were still inside. 

The door was still held open by the chair, waiting for the others to burst through, safe and sound. Daichi rubbed his neck and peered through the gap. The foyer he could see was still free from any debris, and the stairs were in sight. It was a clear escape for his team, providing they could get to it. Being on the next floor from the ground now that seemed a much clearer a goal, but Daichi didn't know who was where or if they could even _move_ still.

'Captain,' said Kageyama, jogging to his side. 'You can't go back inside, either.'

Daichi blinked. 'I...I wasn't thinking of doing that,' he lied. His friends were so much closer now that he had been tempted to run inside to help - the authorities were taking ages - but he really did know he couldn't do that.

Kageyama raised his eyebrow slightly, rightfully not believing him. Daichi gave a small smile. He was pleased to see Kageyama was OK. Quite a large part of Daichi expected to be presented with a shaking, nervous wreck, worse than Asahi, who wouldn't be able to move without help. Kageyama did look pale, and Daichi caught moments where Kageyama shook himself, like he was telling himself off for looking as terrified as he felt inside. It wasn't healthy, Daichi knew, but Kageyama had been able to get this far already, so he'd be well again with help from others besides Hinata.

'You'd just get hurt too, Captain,' agreed Tsukishima, who was still looking up at the house. 

Daichi looked back at Kageyama, who had gone back to sit by Hinata. Neither he nor Tsukishima seemed to care that they were agreeing with each other; how rare a thing that is. Nothing mattered to them now besides their friends, clearly.

It had Daichi smiling slightly as he looked back at the house, side by side with Tsukishima, watching for any signs of movements from the others.  

 

* * *

 

They couldn't see Yamaguchi because he didn't want to be seen. 

He'd safely made it down the stairs and now stood on the balcony above the foyer, behind a panel of wall between two of the dusty windows that overlooked the front of the house. He could see where the collapse had struck this floor ahead of him. A wall had been crushed, so he could just see someone buried in a pile beyond, but for the moment Yamaguchi was more concerned with the balcony.

It _had_ acted as a walkway over the foyer, bending around from the stairs to the front of the house, parallel with the wall, to lead off down the corridor Yamaguchi had just raced down. Now it was in pieces. 

Directly ahead of Yamaguchi only a few boards had broken away from the balcony, and part of the railing with it. Past the bend, past the only way into the room where Yamaguchi's friends now lay, there was a gaping hole in the balcony. The stairs were still intact, and a small part of the balcony was still accessible, but what use was that if they couldn't get from one to the other?

Yamaguchi could at least get to the others from where he was. The floor looked like it could break away at any moment, but now most of the house looked that way to Yamaguchi. One wrong step and he'd fall, they'd all fall - that was how he ended up faced with this disaster now anyway. Why on earth hadn't he realised where he'd been standing?! How stupid of him! And not only had Sugawara fallen, but the others had been dragged down a floor as well. Yamaguchi dreaded to think how badly injured they were now. 

Biting hard at his lip, Yamaguchi put one foot forward. The balcony creaked. He pressed harder, shifting his whole weight onto that foot. More creaking, but it held. Naturally that should mean that Yamaguchi was safe to move freely if the old, unstable balcony could hold that weight, but Yamaguchi would never believe that. He walked slowly forward, though, keeping as close to the wall as he could whilst he moved around where the boards had broken away. He could see figures moving out the window as he passed it, but he didn't dare look out there properly. He was certain one of the two he could see out in the grass was Tsukki, and that was all he needed to know for now; that his friend was safe. Though Yamaguchi really wanted to run back to him, he had another task to be taking care of right now, and before long the thought of that task had carried Yamaguchi safely to the edge of this new collapse.

Yamaguchi poked his head through the gap where the wall had been, blowing clouds of dust away. He heard someone talking softly nearby, and realised it was Noya. The nearest body to Yamaguchi belonged to Asahi, and it wasn't hard to guess that Noya was right beside him, somewhere out of sight. Tanaka couldn't be seen either, but he wasn't making any noise, just like Suga who lay on top of the pile, completely still. 

'Asahi, come on,' Noya was saying. 'Wake _up_!' Noya couldn't remember if the trail of blood on Asahi's head had been there a while or if it were fresh.

With his injury worse still, Noya wasn't much good at anything. He was too weak to speak loudly, to yell at Asahi and wake him up, and he wasn't strong enough to pinch or poke in order to force Asahi to stop drooping over him. The only reason Noya wasn't panicking completely - besides his lack of energy - was that he could feel Asahi breathing, and that had to mean he'd be OK. He didn't know how the others were. If only he didn't have a spike of wood in his leg, Noya would be able to move around and check on them and help them out, but he was still useless.

Something had dropped on top of him and Asahi, too, so the bit of wood embedded in his leg had been pushed to the side, and that sent a new wave of pain through Noya. He struggled to lift the new debris, but by the time he moved it away from his sore leg, Yamaguchi had appeared at the edge of the room. He looked like a ghost, he was so pale.

'Yamaguchi!' Noya grinned weakly. 'You're OK!'

'Uh...yeah,' he said quietly. Noya didn't blame him for looking like he was going to be sick; it was exactly how Noya felt. 'Erm... Nishinoya, I think we need to get you out really soon.'

'No,' Noya said quickly. 'Check on the others - Suga's unconscious and I can't see Tanaka... what?' he asked of Yamaguchi as he saw the first year shaking his head vigorously. 

Yamaguchi stepped carefully across the floor, around the debris, and Noya followed his steps. A deep crimson colour shone on the floor amongst the brown of the debris, and Noya followed the trail up the pile of junk he lay on, tracking the source to his wound. It was bleeding worse than before, having been disturbed in this new collapse. The scarf Asahi had tied around his leg wasn't doing a good enough job now.

'Y...you're losing a lot of blood,' said a shaking Yamaguchi.

 _No kidding_ , thought Noya, shrouded in shock. Any more blood loss and Noya wouldn't be worth saving.


	14. Once More

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Final shot at escaping the abandoned house!

'Yamaguchi! Can you hear me?' Daichi called through the open door. Tsukishima had been certain it was Yamaguchi he'd seen moving past the window, but when he hadn't even tried to contact those outside Daichi grew worried.

'Y-yes! I'm here!' he said, looking out over the foyer. The only problem that stopped Yamaguchi getting to the stairs and down to the foyer was the unstable and broken balcony, which made him want to grip tight at the crumbling walls.

'The authorities are on their way!' shouted the captain immediately, hoping but doubting it would ease some of the stress on those upstairs. 'Hinata and Kageyama are out now, too. How's everyone doing?'

'Uh... they're...'  _Not good_?  _Unwell_?  _I don't even know if they're breathing_? He'd hardly had time to assess the new collapse himself, so he really didn't know if they were OK - besides Noya, with his leg injury dripping with blood - and knowing as little as he did he felt uncomfortable even  _talking_  to Daichi when he could be helping instead. 'I need to get them out!' he shouted down, rushing back into the room before Daichi could question further.

The creak of the floor where he stepped was like nails on a chalkboard to Yamaguchi. Now more than ever he was aware of each inch of this house. Another wrong move, however small, could bring the end. Yamaguchi wasn't going to be the cause of anything else that went wrong. 

'Asahi, ya big idiot, wake up!' a frustrated Noya was saying as Yamaguchi returned. Asahi's body was floppy as Noya prodded him, like a giant teddy bear, but one who had been cared for too much; his head fell heavily to one side, like a teddy's would if the stuffing in his neck had worn away and couldn't hold the weight of his head. Asahi's arms were limp and even Noya was able to lift them up a little. 'Are these dumb noodles the arms of an ace?!' he asked, knowing he wouldn't get an answer. 'No! Come on, get  _up_!'

Yamaguchi saw Noya wasn't just trying to lighten the mood any more. It seemed like he didn't know what else to say; insulting Asahi, or generally being blunt with everyone, was natural for Noya but now it was intertwined with the worry Noya had managed to subdue so far. Even Suga had looked devastated by what had happened there. However ill Noya looked, clearly he didn't want his friends looking at him like he was a goner, so he'd tried to keep them smiling. There wasn't much point in that any more.

It hurt Noya to turn to face Asahi, since it meant twisting his body around completely. In the collapse Asahi must have thrown his arms out to protect Noya's head and torso, rolling him to the side slightly in what little time he had so Asahi's head and shoulders would have taken the brunt of whatever force threw itself upon them. Luckily, little had fallen on top, but Asahi's legs bent beneath him at a questionable angle. It looked like he was kneeling in the debris, tilted forward over Noya.

Noya could feel Asahi breathing, but it didn't sound healthy. Though it hurt his leg a lot to move, Noya shuffled forward as much as he could so he was no longer crushing Asahi's chest. Positioned more awkwardly on top of the debris now, holding his body up with his shaking arms, Noya managed to turn so he could see Asahi waking up now that he could breathe better... but that didn't happen. Sure, his breathing was a lot softer, but his eyelids remained closed.

'God _dammit_!' Noya shouted. He flung himself sideways to sit on the pile of debris, pushing Asahi's arms away from him and trying to get a grip on a broken piece of furniture nearby so he could lift himself up properly and give Asahi more room. His leg started throbbing worse but Noya ignored it.

 _Why won't he wake up!?_ Noya was furious. Asahi was breathing fine, and Noya had convinced himself that the injury to his head was from before. So really, Asahi was OK, and that means he should wake up. Noya's own breathing was far from normal, now, and he put that down to a combination of his injuries - mainly the loss of blood - and how annoyed he was that Asahi had been knocked out.

What _really_ bothered him was how Asahi hardly left his side after Noya had been found. He could have been doing  _anything_  else. Noya supposed that Asahi's anxiety levels had been skyrocketing, and surely staying by the window, getting some fresh air and talking with whoever stood outside, would have helped ease that. But he'd stayed with Noya, panicking each time a new bead of sweat dripped from Noya's burning forehead. He’d _protected_ Noya in this latest collapse – protected the one who’d started it all off.

'Nishinoya, calm down!' Yamaguchi hissed, rushing forward through the debris to push Noya back onto the pile.

'No!' he shouted back, fighting weakly. Yamaguchi was much stronger and won easily, so Noya sat still with a stubborn look on his face, which slowly faded as his energy levels began to spill away. 'Asahi... Tanaka... Suga...' Noya said, each name the start of a sentence - he didn't know himself if they were apologies, commands or pleas. In his head swam a hundred things he wanted to say to his friends, but his mind was too foggy and the words disappeared. 

'N...Nishinoya, I'll have to get you out now,' Yamaguchi said, quite forcefully. He didn't even wait for Noya to agree before he started clearing a better path for them both through the debris. Noya did try to speak, but he gave up and threw an arm across his face to cover his eyes. 

Noya felt rotten again. His body had perked up not so long ago when help had arrived in the form of Suga and Yamaguchi, but now Noya just wanted to sleep. He'd wanted that before, too, but couldn't commit. He had wanted to be awake so he could keep telling Tanaka and Asahi that he was OK. Now they were both unconscious - he couldn't even  _see_  Tanaka - so Noya could slip away himself.

He felt the debris shifting a little as Yamaguchi moved bits around. Noya was too gone to properly register what Yamaguchi was moving, but when something shifted and brought him an inch or two closer to the ground, his eyes popped open.  _Is this floor falling, too?_  he thought drowsily, but he only moved that short distance - Yamaguchi had pulled a bit of furniture from beneath and the debris on top had dropped down, Noya and Asahi moving with it. Noya was fine, though, but he jumped forward when he saw Asahi's heavy head dragging him closer to the ground as he began to fall sideways.

It was Yamaguchi that grabbed Asahi - Noya's fingertips hadn't even brushed his sleeve. Yamaguchi had only managed to stop Asahi falling to the floor with a bang, so Asahi’s feet were still stuck in the debris.

'Asahi?!' Yamaguchi whispered. He held Asahi by the shoulders, clutching hard at his jacket to keep him from hitting his head on the broken furniture – he was heavy to hold up. 'Asahi, are you OK?!'

Noya sat himself back, scoffing a little, knowing it was useless to speak to Asahi now. But then he heard a cough. 

'Y...yeah, I-I'm OK.'

There was a grunt and an  _ow_  as Asahi moved, Yamaguchi helping him to sit back up on the debris, and then Noya saw through his blurry vision that Asahi was actually awake again - awake, moving fine, seemingly no different from before. 

The two locked eyes for a full second before Asahi shot forward, scrambling closer to Noya and spewing questions asking if he was alright.

'I-I'm fine!' Noya said. He was in shock, seeing Asahi going from totally still to his jittery, anxious self so quickly. In his daze Noya somehow managed to return to his normal self, puffing out his chest a little, like he was proud that he was the only one who'd stayed awake. 'It's you and the others we were worrying about!'

'The others...?' Asahi looked around, and his face fell.

'Suga and Tanaka,' said Yamaguchi quietly. 'I've checked and they're... they're still breathing, but they're weak.'

Asahi paled. 'W...well we need to get them out!'

Yamaguchi held up a hand. 'Noya first.'

It was only then that Asahi noticed how much blood Noya had lost, and immediately he stood up, flexing his sore legs. Asahi shook so much that he thought Noya would scold him for it, but Noya stayed quiet, though he watched Asahi's movements closely; his eyes kept flicking back to Asahi whenever the ace moved or said anything more. They decided how to move Noya and soon Asahi and Yamaguchi held Noya between them, carrying him carefully out of the room. 

Asahi held Noya's upper body, having hooked his arms under Noya's, and Yamaguchi carefully held his legs. Neither found him to be very heavy but Yamaguchi was particularly worried about how high Noya's legs should be held - Asahi had said you're supposed to hold a bleeding limb above the level of the heart to reduce blood flow, and they needed all the help they could get now. Somehow, even though he was being jostled about so much, Noya looked like he was about to doze off... at least, Yamaguchi hoped that was it. His eyelids looked heavy and his head lolled to one side, the streak of blond in his hair falling down to brush against his brow. When the alternative reason for that look sprang to mind, Yamaguchi decided hold the leg even higher.

Getting out of the room had been fine; the real problem came with the unstable balcony, where there was a wide gap in the floor they needed to cross. Asahi looked so nervous, having to walk backwards over a gap like that with Noya in his arms - it might as well be a tightrope without a safety net. 

'Asahi...' mumbled Noya, and the sound had Asahi straightening up like he’d been electrocuted.

'Noya? D-did you say something?' He stopped, Yamaguchi noticed, right on the edge of where the balcony had broken away. Yamaguchi knew he should have taken the lead; Asahi wasn't concentrating on his own movements at all. It didn't matter to him that he'd been injured in this collapse, because Noya had been hurt more, and he was always priority. 

Noya coughed and winced at the pain it brought him. 'Asahi, you're crushing my ribs.'

'O-oh... sorry,' he said, immediately loosening his grip around Noya's chest. Asahi was still strong, though, however nervous he may be right now, so his carrying Noya was no problem - he'd just been a little too overprotective at first.

Noya huffed in thanks, but seemed quite relaxed despite the circumstances, or perhaps that was just lack of energy. It was hard to tell with someone who could switch so easily between crazily energetic and seriously silent.

'Don't drop me,' Noya said sleepily, his head tilting back to look up at Asahi.

'I-I won't!' Asahi squeaked. Yamaguchi saw a smile tug at the side of Noya's face - was he actually amused at how nervous Asahi was? Or was this Noya trying to lighten the mood again?

'You too, Yamaguchi,' Noya murmured.

Yamaguchi nodded, not wanting to speak for fear he'd vomit.

Asahi had soon carefully stepped over the crack, and when it came for Yamaguchi's turn his fellow teammates both held their breath, expecting Yamaguchi to take forever to move and to need encouragement. Yamaguchi stood tall, however, holding Noya's feet steady. He repeated in his mind that the gap wasn't that big, the drop wasn't that far, the floor would hold, until he  _just_  started to believe it, and that's when he stepped forward.

Neither Asahi or Noya had thought he'd move that quickly, so Asahi almost stumbled backward as Yamaguchi's feet landed safely. 

'I...I'm sorry!' said Yamaguchi upon seeing their expressions - shock, but it was as if the concern they held before hadn't had time to get out of the way. 'Nishinoya, are you OK?'

'Uh, yeah...' Noya mumbled. 'Well, come on then!' he said after a long moment of silence, in which Asahi just didn't know what to say and Yamaguchi tried to hide away from their stares. 'Or is there some other problem yet?'

Asahi managed a smile from somewhere, and it spread to Yamaguchi. They'd done it. Nearly. They'd at least already passed all the tricky obstacles they knew about, and now they just had to safely, and quickly, get Noya outside. 

They could hear their friends through the door as they descended the stairs. Yamaguchi could feel himself wobbling, hearing Daichi calling to them and Hinata quickly jumping from  _yes they're coming out!_  to  _oh my god what happened to Noya?!_

Daichi was waiting by the door where the chair was still wedged. Asahi was unusually calm as he carried Noya down the stairs, not missing a step or stumbling even as he was going backwards, his goal fixed in his mind. Yamaguchi found himself bouncing a little to keep up with Asahi’s pace.

'Tsukishima, come help!' Daichi called behind him. Daichi and Tsukki stood by the door and held out their hands ready to take Noya from Asahi; the four of them carefully, carefully, moved Noya through the narrow opening. Yamaguchi was the first to let go and was able to breathe a sigh of relief that someone was out. Asahi followed right after Noya, climbing quickly over the chair and helping Daichi carry Noya onto the grass. Hinata wasn't far behind them, and he'd managed to get Noya talking a mile a minute again. 

Yamaguchi caught his breath. His hands rested on his knees, finally stopping the shaking in his hands.  _I did it_ , he beamed,  _I helped them escape!_ His job was only half finished, but for now he wanted to be happy more of his teammates were safe. 

'Hey,' a voice called into the foyer through the open door. 'You, too, Yamaguchi,' said Daichi, holding out his hand for Yamaguchi to take. 

Yamaguchi stood and shook his head, holding his fists tightly. 'No,' he said, feeling his stomach turn as he committed to the job of going back to the wreckage. Before Daichi could demand he leaves  _now_ , Yamaguchi blurted out, 'Suga and Tanaka aren't awake.'

Daichi’s smile slid away. His strong, steady hand fell slightly as his shoulders dropped. Yamaguchi had to watch the worry flash in his eyes for the few seconds it lasted before Daichi blinked it away. Now he was just expressionless. 'They're...?' he asked quietly, unable to pull out the full question.

'They're breathing,' Yamaguchi confirmed with a nod. 'I don't think they're as bad as Nishinoya. They'll be fine,' he said, not breaking eye contact. 'And please, captain, don't offer to come in yourself to get them out.'

Daichi's expression didn't shift, but his eyes searched Yamaguchi's face. The one teammate he hadn’t expected to willingly enter the crumbling house now stood tall and strong, determined and defiant. Everyone else came out of the house worse than when they went in, but Yamaguchi had been spared that curse – Daichi hoped that would remain.  

'I won't,' Daichi decided. 'Just be careful,' he said with a nod, moving away before he finished the sentence. 

Yamaguchi exhaled. Their captain had been faced with so many tough decisions, and Yamaguchi hated dropping another onto his shoulders. Knowing their friends were waiting for his help was honestly the only thing that kept Yamaguchi standing.

'Wait, Yamaguchi!' called Tsukki from the door when Yamaguchi was already running back to the stairs. As Yamaguchi turned he saw Tsukki's foot on the chair wedged in the doorway, and his hands gripping the doorframe.

'No, Tsukki, don't come inside!' Yamaguchi called, holding his hands out and waving them frantically. His heart boomed in his chest, not for the first time today, but this in particular made him forget who was waiting for him upstairs. One thing he couldn't allow was Tsukki putting himself in danger. Though his friend was clever and clear-headed, neither of those would stop something hurting him in this place. 

Tsukki blinked. 'Why are you _still_ inside?' 

'They need help,' Yamaguchi said simply, frowning. He glanced up at the room he needed to reach, just wishing he would see Sugawara and Tanaka emerge, completely fine and unhurt. 

Tsukki shrugged and spoke as if this were the most normal decision to make on the spot. 'Fine, I'll come help, too-'

'No!' Yamaguchi yelled, stepping forward himself. Tsukki blinked again and raised an eyebrow. 'Tsukki, please... just stay back.'

The two friends held each other’s gaze for several seconds, but then Tsukki slowly moved his leg back to the floor, safely outside. ‘OK,’ he agreed, but he said it so quietly Yamaguchi barely heard.

Tsukki wouldn't look away from Yamaguchi, though, and his gaze followed him all the way back up the stairs. Yamaguchi hoped Daichi was right outside the door keeping hold of Tsukki's jacket, just in case.

There was something different about the way Tsukki looked at him then. His friend was capable of few obvious emotions, he knew, but Tsukki had actually  _looked_  concerned and, more importantly,  _impressed_. How often was Tsukki actually impressed with something, even his own achievements? Yamaguchi didn't think his actions even deserved that look, but he was glad to have seen Tsukki like that.

And Asahi and Noya. How they'd stared at him on the balcony, that had been different to any look they'd shown him previously. Yamaguchi had received praise from them on many occasions, but the shock was something else. Yamaguchi wasn't blind; he knew nobody had expected him to keep his composure in this house - Sugawara and Daichi hadn't even been watching him earlier since they didn't think he'd try to go inside, later on everyone was much happier to see Sugawara had come to the attic to rescue them, and just now Daichi was surprised to see Yamaguchi so adamant he’d save the others. But Yamaguchi had worked hard to do his job: on the team he worked so hard to be a part of the matches, silently working on his technique, and today he'd worked and worked to keep himself calm in order to do a job that didn't feel all that different; as pinch server he helped out the team when they needed him, and today was the same, only the consequences of Yamaguchi failing were more severe. The team had looked at him differently when they saw what he brought to their matches, and today had again changed how they see him. 

Back on the balcony, Yamaguchi's confidence got the better of him and he hopped over the gap - which now didn't look at all scary - and as his second foot landed he felt his first begin to fall. Quickly, he moved it onto a more stable part of the balcony so he didn't fall to the floor, but part of the balcony did. Yamaguchi looked back to see the gap had almost doubled in size now.

'Yamaguchi?!' Tsukki's voice called through the door. 'What was that?!'

Yamaguchi jumped toward the railing. He saw Tsukki’s head poking through the door, and looked down to see where the boards of the balcony had fallen and cracked on the foyer floor. 'Nothing, it's OK!' he shouted back, throwing a small smile to reassure Tsukki. 

'Yamaguchi?' said another voice, this one from behind.

'Tanaka!' called Yamaguchi, running right back into the room to Tanaka, who struggled to stand up where he’d fallen. He still clutched his broken arm, but he rolled his shoulders now too and winced as he did so.

'You OK?' he asked, face creased up in pain. He staggered forward unsteadily and Yamaguchi threw out his hands, in case he needed to stop him falling – they didn’t need another fall to send them down _another_  floor.

'Yeah, what about you?'

'M'alright. Feeling a bit groggy is all,' Tanaka sighed. 'Where is everyone?'

'There's only me, you and Sugawara left inside-' Yamaguchi said, nodding to where Suga lay still motionless, but his sentence was cut off. 

'Suga?!' Tanaka hadn't yet noticed his friend on top of the wreckage. The memory of what happened in this second collapse hit him then. He remembered with such clarity how Suga had jumped in front of the falling Yamaguchi and how Tanaka's heart had leapt into his throat at the same time. He'd wanted to yell a warning at Suga the moment he saw his feet spring away from the floor, but he wasn't able to; instead, along with Asahi and Noya, he'd silently watched his friend crash to the pile and break the floor. 

'H-how are Asahi and Noya?' Tanaka asked. 

'Fine!' Yamaguchi squeaked. 'Well, Noya's the same, I guess, and Asahi wasn't injured any more. It's just... Sugawara.'

Suga lay across the top of the pile, his body turned away from them. Tanaka and Yamaguchi moved around the debris to get to him. When they got close enough they both saw his chest moving steadily, like he was sleeping. His eyes remained closed, though, and Tanaka and Yamaguchi exchanged glances that asked  _what do we do now?_

'Should we shake him awake?'

'That might not be good. What woke you up?'

'Dunno... I just sat up.'

'Asahi woke up when the debris shifted and he fell over.'

'Really? Well can we do that with Suga?'

Yamaguchi frowned. Asahi waking up was an accident, though a good one. He didn't really want to try to repeat it with Sugawara in case it made things worse - they didn't know how badly injured Sugawara was. He could have hurt himself somewhere they couldn't see, and they'd only know later because enough blood spilled through the cracks to reach the floor. He might have badly bruised or broken something. He had fallen at a funny angle, and Yamaguchi was sure that when someone falls from a height like that there's the chance they damaged their spine - moving him would make that worse.

Suddenly Yamaguchi's confidence from earlier fell away. His nerves came back in full as he realised how serious Sugawara's injuries might be.

'Yamaguchi? What is it?’ Tanaka asked with a shaking voice. ‘Why do you look like that?!'

'N... I... erm...' Yamaguchi felt like he was going to vomit again. 

Tanaka's panic grew then, too. He looked around, briefly registering how much of the house had smashed around them, but his gaze fell on the window the debris now separated him from. Should he shout down to those outside, ask what best to do? Surely the authorities weren't far away now. And they had Daichi and Tsukishima outside; both of them seem like they'd know what to do.

He stared at the trees far out in the garden as he thought, but something much further down in his line of vision began moving and snatched his attention straight away: Suga's eyes twitching.

'Suga?' whispered Tanaka as soon as he saw the movement. Suga's face began to twitch and his eyelids started to flutter open. 'Suga can you hear me?'

Suga groaned and slowly, his body moved. He looked like a cat who'd just woken up. He scrunched up his face as he stretched out his limbs, but unlike a cat he muttered _ow_  a few times as he did, and then curled up in pain again when he felt a sharp stab at his side. There was a pulsating pain in his left side, the side that lay on the wreckage, starting partway up his back and travelling down his thigh. With his eyes still tightly shut Suga gritted his teeth as he got used to the discomfort, letting the pain fade away into a dull throb he thought he'd be able to handle whilst he dealt with what lay in front of him.

It turns out, what lay in front of him was his kohai, Tanaka and Yamaguchi, their faces only inches from his.

'Hey, guys,' Suga said sleepily, blinking to see them better in what was still a dark room. 'W...what happened?'

Tanaka and Yamaguchi didn't give an answer straight away; they were too busy smiling. It hadn't seemed right to see Suga caught up in this mess and they were glad he wasn't badly injured - he sat up almost straight away, and both boys scrambled to help once they saw how much it hurt Suga.

'Ow - so Noya's OK? Good. Well done helping them, Yamaguchi.'

Yamaguchi grinned broadly. 'T-thanks! But, uh, I did break the balcony on my way back up.'

Suga sighed, but quickly got the gears in his head working. They _weren't_ trapped here; they  _would_  find some way out. 'Right... how badly? Is it totally impossible to get down?'

'Oh, no, it's just a big gap we'd probably have to jump across.'

Suga knew there was no way he could jump with the pain in his leg, and jumping on something this unstable would lead to even more damage anyway. 'H...how's about you find some planks of wood to fit over the gap? Would that work?'

'I-I think so!' said Yamaguchi, glad once again to have Sugawara to turn to. He set about trying to fix his latest mistake right away whilst Tanaka helped Suga stand.

Tanaka used his good arm to help Suga stay steady, which was hard to do when Tanaka wasn't feeling as strong as usual and Suga's leg didn't want to cooperate. As soon as he put his foot to the floor, he felt an awful buzzing from his heel to his leg and each step sent a new pang snaking up to his back.

'Suga, do you need to sit back down?'

'No!' Suga said, grimacing in pain once again. 'We've got to leave... Yamaguchi?' he called to the first year on the balcony, which seemed so far away when it was only metres. 'Has it worked?'

Yamaguchi's freckled face appeared around the wall and he pulled a face. 'Hope so,' he said quietly. When he saw how Suga was struggling he ran forward and took over Tanaka's job, leading Suga carefully but quickly from the room. Yamaguchi's heart was beating faster now. He felt an odd combination of excitement that they're so close to leaving mixed in with the permanent worry that  _anything_  else could happen still. 

Tanaka led the way onto the balcony but stopped before Yamaguchi's makeshift bridge. He frowned at how much pain Suga's face showed, and held out his hand to let them cross first. Yamaguchi stopped walking when he came to the edge of his plank bridge; the pieces of wood he'd found varied in size and some looked broken, so naturally Yamaguchi was terrified of taking this first step and bringing Sugawara with him, not only sending them tumbling to the floor but leaving Tanaka stuck, too. Suga, however, stepped forward immediately, his face still scrunched up in pain. Either Suga had a lot of faith in Yamaguchi, or the pain in his side was getting too much for him.

The bridge creaked and Yamaguchi swore he felt a snap somewhere, but he half-carried Suga across successfully. He turned when Tanaka began to cross and held out his free hand in case Tanaka needed to grab onto him, but Tanaka too was across safely within minutes. Neither saw it as something to celebrate over, however; not when Suga was doubled over in pain. They turned their attention back to him immediately and started their descent to the final floor.

'Should we carry him, Yamaguchi?'

'Don't be daft, Tanaka,' Suga said through gritted teeth - he wasn't trying to sound mean, though it came out with a harsher tone as he tried to ignore the pain again. 'It'd just slow us down.'

Tanaka nodded, knowing Suga was right but Tanaka wasn’t happy about it. They moved at a slow pace trying to limit how much Suga moved, but trying to carry him would be even worse. There was no way Suga would allow them to stay in that place a second longer than they had to.

Even as the trio reached the bottom of the stairs, they still held their breath. Disaster can strike at any moment, they’d learned, whether things were going well or had already been sour to begin with. The ceiling high above them could still crack, letting the entirety of the heavy, broken house crash down upon them at this last hurdle. The floor beneath them could collapse, send them into that dark, freezing cellar - Suga was sure that if that happened, he'd probably give up and order the others to leave without him; these last few steps were all Suga could manage. He wanted badly to see how Noya was doing, for he'd been dealing with a worse pain in his leg for longer, and Suga was astonished someone could deal with this pain that long.

Suga began to drop from Yamaguchi's grip, so Tanaka tried to help carry him. They had less than half of the foyer now to cross. For all three of them, the weight of the house above them became more apparent, but the shouts from their friends just outside the door kept their heads held high and their feet moving. Suga even let out a weak laugh as he saw Hinata and Kageyama battling to stick their heads through the gap in the door, pushing under Daichi's arm - not that Daichi was bothered, he just held his other arm out as far as it would reach, waiting to latch onto his friends and drag them out.

Tanaka ran ahead of Yamaguchi and Suga when Yamaguchi assured him he could managed the last few steps, now that Suga was making a bigger effort to stand taller and keep his face straighter. Once again Suga had thrown a mask over his true emotions when others could see it. Tanaka jumped at the door and pushed with his good arm, using all the force he had left in him. Those outside pulled at the heavy door; together they managed to get it as wide as it would go. Now Tanaka stood, outside the crumbling house, flanking the exit for Suga and Yamaguchi as they crossed the threshold. 

Immediately, Daichi grabbed hold of Suga's other side and helped Yamaguchi carry him over to the grass - Daichi was so adamant to get them away that Yamaguchi was almost jogging to keep up. They lay Suga beside Noya, who had sat himself up and was telling Asahi to shush whilst he checked on Suga and Tanaka.

As the older teammates crowded on the garden, the first years stood on the steps of the front porch, silent. Yamaguchi was panting through exhaustion. He spun around quickly, though, manically counting to make sure they'd forgotten nobody - stupidly, he panicked when he counted only nine and not twelve, but the other three second years had been bright enough to avoid this adventure. Yamaguchi bent over with his hands on his knees again, catching his breath. He smiled when he saw a familiar pair of feet slide into view close beside him. 

Hinata and Kageyama were oddly quiet, too. Neither Yamaguchi nor Tsukishima made a comment on this; something told them both that this wasn't something to joke about, not yet. One look confirmed that Kageyama's body still shook and twitched at random moments, and he kept looking back at the house whenever he heard even the smallest of noises from anywhere around him. He stayed close by Hinata, though, which served as a good place to be to block out unwanted noise; Hinata was laughing and cheering, hearing his teammates chatting gleefully, though Noya and Suga particularly sounded distant.

After a few minutes, once Tanaka and Hinata started jumping around the garden cheering together, Daichi stood and looked back over his shoulder. The house could crumble all it liked; it couldn't harm his friends any more. He jumped back up the steps towards the front door, ignoring the shouts from his teammates, and he yanked the patio chair from where it sat keeping the door open still. The patio chair fell to the old flowerbed beside the porch, and Daichi watched the thick, heavy door bang shut with a satisfying boom. 

He turned back around with a sigh, smiling. _They'd escaped._  

They weren't quite in the clear, but at the edge of the garden Daichi saw the paramedics finally making an appearance - they ran toward the group of idiotic boys who were madly waving whichever arms weren't injured. They all moved aside to give the paramedics room to assess Noya and Suga first. Another pair of paramedics burst through the bushes and came running with large boards. They'd be able to get the Karasuno boys safely out of here in no time, to hospital for treatment, before they got scolded for doing something so ridiculous - not that that mattered; all the boys cared about was that their friends got real help and would be OK. 

The air was cold, but nobody had really noticed that for some time. Nobody paid any attention to the clouds and how they began to fade away now to let the pale blue sky take centre stage, and the sun broke through stray strands of grey cloud to warm the ground once again. The large house cast a shadow across the garden in the early afternoon sun, but it wasn't large enough to reach the boys in the garden - they felt the warmer rays on their necks, their faces, easing their tense muscles and allowing them to relax now, knowing they were in good hands and that the disaster of a house wasn't able to hurt them further.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaaaaand they're out! My boys are safe once more thank goodness. At least 3 of them were tempted to say "hey, imagine if we forgot someone..." but that would have been so inappropriate.  
> 


	15. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So! The boys all escaped safely, and now we skip ahead to some time after their recovery.  
> Alternative title for the epilogue: "This Should Have Been Called _Yamaguchi Isn't Totally Useless: The Fanfic_ "

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just assume all injuries heal very quickly, and I've literally no idea where this whole story would fit in the timeline, so just ignore that error on my part ;P this chapter is set at a training camp in Tokyo but it doesn't really matter when... I'm just glad I managed to sneak Fukurodani and Nekoma in somewhere!  
> And most importantly, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING, I AM SO PLEASED PEOPLE LIKED THIS!!

Kageyama had the volleyball between his hands. His long fingers held it delicately, needing only the smallest motion to spin it and another to stop it still again. Not one finger twitched involuntarily as he stood, soothing his breaths, preparing to serve. In a second the ball was up, Kageyama following behind with a leap into the air. At the perfect spot Kageyama swung with his hand and smacked the ball in an arc over the net, expertly delivering the serve he's worked to near-perfection.

With Daichi on the other end to receive it, though, it didn't matter how close it got to perfect; Daichi could still stop it. Daichi's arms were strong and steady, no longer throbbing with pain at his shoulders and instead pulsing with the success of the serves he'd received already this practice. Experience beat Kageyama again, and Daichi's instant, built-in reaction for receives sent Kageyama's serve directly to Suga.

Suga's leg gave him no trouble and he instantly found himself underneath the path of the volleyball, hands held still and ready above his head. Jumping was no problem to him; he didn't have any bizarre buzzing along his leg to distract him from the toss he knew so well - high, and away from the net.

Asahi was there to spike it. He wore only determination on his face, something seen more during a match than at any other time. Though this was practice he still managed to maintain the focus and power that earned him the title of Ace. Having already faced such a scary situation back in that house, there was little left to cause Asahi such stress, and so he was able to keep his composure even when he saw the ball's path lead directly to Noya on the other side of the net.

In a flash Noya had been there, ready to stop the ball that had easily pushed past the blockers. Daichi may be good at receives but Noya was expert. The scar on his leg was just visible where his shorts cut off, but it didn't cause him any bother; he could still move at lightning speed, still spring about the court brilliantly, still be the one keeping the ball connected. 

It flew into the air and Tanaka took his chance, spiking the ball powerfully and breaking past the blockers just as easily as Asahi had. 

'YEAAAAHHH!' Tanaka yelled when the ball hit the floor, pumping the air with his fists. His right arm was as powerful as ever, and his left was back to normal now too - though he only used that to wave his arms above his head in celebration.

'Noyaaaa! Tanakaaaa!' cheered Hinata from the sidelines. He wasn't happy to not be involved in this little warm-up session, but he did always love watching his teammates play. Nonetheless, Hinata was determined to get out there and play again - even when he'd been injured Hinata was desperate to be back on the court before he'd fully healed.

Actually, though, very few of the team members were happy to sit back and wait to heal so they could get back to their previous strength. Daichi had been the one to sternly tell everyone they had to heal, but had quickly grown restless himself - _my shoulders are fine, I can still play like this! -_ which obviously wasn't true. Suga said something similar, claiming there was nothing wrong with his leg any more, but the physiotherapists said something different. The same went for Noya, who hated each of his physio sessions until Kiyoko told him how important it was for him to attend - after that he worked incredibly hard, and Tanaka did also, though he had fewer sessions than Noya and a small part of him didn't like it. Still, he got more time back at practice with Kiyoko, which Noya was insanely jealous of. 

Kiyoko proved efficient in convincing the boys to listen to the doctors. She and Yachi were both distraught upon seeing what had happened to the majority of their team and were even more focused on their training and getting them back in shape. Both managers made sure they were at least a little involved in the boys' care and understood what they needed.

Hinata was one of the first to heal completely. He was clearly determined to get better and his body worked hard at it, too. What bothered him, though, was that he didn't have Kageyama to toss to him at practice for a while - though Kageyama hadn't been physically injured, he still needed therapy. Kageyama hated his therapy sessions. It was only when Yachi told Hinata that she was worried for his progress - when Hinata had said he would be OK - that Hinata started talking more with Kageyama, and it helped. Before long they were the dynamic duo of Karasuno once more. 

Asahi, too, hadn't been physically injured but needed therapy. He took to it better than Kageyama had, but the biggest thing contributing to his improvement was seeing his teammates as they improved. Their success rubbed off on Asahi and he was better fairly soon - not totally, but he was ready to go back to practice sooner than most, working hard to get himself back up to scratch and worthy of his title before the others came back. Even when they were all medically fit again, they'd needed a lot of time to work on technique, building up their bodies to a better condition than before. 

Coach Ukai and Takeda were in pieces over what had happened. Both had blamed themselves in part, too, though that was just ridiculous. Ukai wanted to throttle each and every one of them for doing something so _stupid_ , but his anger fell away fairly soon in favour of exhaustion. There was nothing to be done; they just had to wait and work as hard as they could. Kiyoko made sure they both knew what pushing the boys could do, that it's better the boys are fit and healthy and not overworked so much as to injure themselves again.

They improved considerably, though. All those who had been there that day were determined to get better, to improve and catch up, to win their next matches. 

'Yamaguchi.'

Yamaguchi jumped. 'Y-yes?' He'd been spacing out as he watched the practice. If he forgot all the time he watched his teammates struggle with their diagnoses, watched them heal and recover and then work to get themselves back in shape, then Yamaguchi was shocked that his friends had managed to get over what happened in that abandoned house. Having watched the transition had him in awe of his teammates who'd managed to overcome all of that. Yamaguchi wasn't sure he'd have been able to do the same. 

Tsukki flicked the ball in his hand so it flew toward Yamaguchi, who caught it before it hit his chest. 'It's your turn to practice.'

Yamaguchi smiled and took his spot. The team waited for his serve, all ready wherever they needed to be. They were serious, determined; this team had been through enough and now all they wanted was perfection. It had been a big blow to them all, and they were past it now, but if they could get past that house then there's little left to scare them. Yamaguchi held the ball tightly in his hands, knowing he couldn't let them down, and for once, telling himself that made him feel better - the ball flew into the air, smoothly and totally in Yamaguchi's control. 

 

* * *

 

'...And then it all fell, like, _BOOM_ \- and the whole house was breaking apart! We had to climb out a _window_...' 

Hinata was in his element retelling the tale once again. Plenty of students at their school wanted to hear his version of events, which varied only slightly from the one Tanaka and Noya were spreading, but their friends in Tokyo hadn't heard the story told like this yet.

Kenma had heard about it all first and promptly told Kuroo and the rest of Nekoma, so soon the smaller details had flown around the Tokyo teams and now they wanted the full story. Hinata's audience in the gym consisted of Inuoka, Lev, Tora and Kenma - Kenma claimed to be only half listening, but he became so intrigued he looked away from his phone to fully engage with Hinata's storytelling. Kuroo had laughed at the sight but he, along with Bokuto and Akaashi, were soon captivated by the story as well.

'...I ran back inside afterward,' Hinata was saying. 'And so did Sugawara, and Yamaguchi - he's the real hero in all of this!'

'Huh?!' blinked Yamaguchi, who'd been nearby listening in on the story with some other Karasuno members. It was the first time he'd really listened to all of it - before he'd only listened to the beginning where he hadn't been involved, and left as soon as things started sounding familiar.

Hinata grinned and addressed his audience again. 'Yamaguchi ran inside to help us! He was _so_ brave! He wouldn't let our Captain go back inside either, _and_ he carried Sugawara and Noya out!'

All eyes turned to Yamaguchi, impressed and in awe. Yamaguchi felt himself blushing. 

He turned away from the stares and his gaze fell on another team member who kept his distance. Kageyama was on the court practicing his toss whilst he had the chance, whilst Hinata was distracted. He seemed a lot better now after the whole ordeal, but Hinata had let slip that Kageyama wasn't exactly showing his true colours. Kageyama was fragile still, so it was no surprise he didn't want to hear the tale told over and _over_ by the excitable Hinata. It hadn't been a surprise to Yamaguchi that Hinata had cleverly omitted all details of Kageyama's experience in the house - even when he'd first told his school friends - since Hinata was one of the few who knew how Kageyama was reacting to it all, and was really the only one who properly understood it. 

Yamaguchi managed a shy smile, making sure it reached Kageyama, who simply nodded in acknowledgement.

'Geez,' muttered Tsukki, his attention still on Hinata. 'It's like you had no faith in Yamaguchi whatsoever before he saved you all.'

Hinata sat up sharply. 'Not true!' he bellowed. 'Anyway, _you_ didn't offer to help, Tsukishima!'

Tsukki smirked. 'Because I knew it was a stupid thing to do.'

'Yeah,' Yamaguchi jumped in before they got into some sort of battle. 'And, besides, I didn't get hurt like you all did, I'm hardly a _hero_...' he trailed off, not totally sure Hinata had meant to use that word.

'Of course not - the hero doesn't get hurt!' Hinata said, holding his arms at his side in a hero-like pose.

'Like Achilles!' Tanaka called over from the bench. 'Wasn't he the invincible guy?'

'You mean the one who couldn't get hurt unless you hit his ankle,' said Akaashi from just behind Tanaka, where he leant against the wall. 'In which case he'd die instantly?'

'Uh, yeah, that one,' Tanaka mumbled. 'A hero's a hero, Yamaguchi!'

'Next you'll be comparing him to Heracles,' said Tsukki with a roll of his eyes.

'He's just as good!' said Noya. 'Didn't he, I dunno, hold up the sky?' He scrunched up his face, trying to remember what little he'd picked up about Greek myths.

Kuroo leaned forward hearing this, a mischievous grin tugging at his face. 'Are you saying your first year held up this old house with his bare hands, so you could escape?' His question was met with another roll of Tsukki's eyes and more blushing from Yamaguchi. 'Wish Lev could do that - tall as he is I doubt he'd manage it; that kid still can't get the ball back to Kenma. Hey, Sawamura, wanna trade?'

'Not a chance,' Daichi laughed. 'Erm, no offence,' he added to Lev, who in all honesty didn't look that bothered. He was getting a sour look from Yaku that he somehow didn't let get to him; clearly he was still intrigued by Hinata's story.

'How's about this one, then?' Kuroo asked, jabbing a finger toward Tsukki as Hinata's audience, including some of Karasuno, continued trying to follow his tale. 'I know he's _dying_ to spend more time with me and Bokuto.'

Tsukki scrunched up his nose and looked away. With a sigh he wandered off to the other side of the gymnasium, not turning back even as they continued to call to him. Yamaguchi followed closely behind Tsukki, letting Hinata's story drift into background noise. Yamaguchi didn't like being such a big centre of attention and he silently thanked Tsukki for trying to change the direction of conversation and for giving Yamaguchi an excuse to move away from the group.

'You'd think he'd be more impressed with his friend,' Kuroo mused. 'But, then again, I'm not sure I've seen him impressed with anything.'

'He must've been impressed the first time he saw me playing!' Bokuto said boldly, laughing and holding his head high. 

'I'm not sure he was really paying attention,' Akaashi said, his head tilted to the side as he, too, tried to recall a different expression on Tsukishima's face.

'Why do you have to say something like that, Akaashi?!' cried Bokuto. 'He was impressed, wasn't he?!' 

Hinata's story began to drift toward the stages of recovery for Karasuno, highlighting especially how much time he got to spend practicing with the ace he idolises. '...Asahi helped me a lot when everyone else was still getting better,' Hinata was saying, beaming. 

Over on the bench, between Suga and Noya, Asahi blushed and scratched at the back of his head. 'I didn't do that much...'

'Why does that not surprise me?' muttered Daichi. Suga's face twitched in a grin, but he held back from saying anything or laughing, so as to not upset Asahi further. 

Asahi heard without issue, and his expression turned gloomy immediately, so Noya patted his back reassuringly. 'Hey, Daichi, how come you don't praise Asahi anymore? His spike has improved a lot!' 

'You have been praising Ennoshita and the guys more, Daichi,' Suga pointed out. 'Not that they don't deserve it,' he added with a kind grin he flashed at the three in question sat nearby.

'Asahi only went downhill because of what happened at that house,' said Daichi, and Suga rolled his eyes. 'If he hadn't gone there in the first place he could have surpassed Ushiwaka by now.'

'That's the only reason he's praising us more,' Ennoshita called over. 'And, anyway, didn't you go in, too, Captain?'

Daichi's glare swerved away from Asahi and fell on Ennoshita. It wasn't hugely effective on him, though Narita and Kinnoshita both looked uncomfortable.

'And Suga went in twice,' offered Tanaka, also earning a dark glare from Daichi.

'So, technically you should be more angry at Suga,' Noya said, patting Asahi hard on the back twice with the revelation. Asahi looked a little brighter having his teammates back him up, but it didn't last.

Daichi sat up straighter and folded his arms. 'Asahi knows he's a wimp, though. He shouldn't have gone in in the first place.'

Suga laughed at having avoided punishment, but he threw an apologetic look toward Asahi, who again looked gloomy. Behind them, Kuroo joined in the laughter - he was baffled by how that team worked, and more importantly, he was amazed that they all seemed so together after what had happened to them.

Hearing their story wouldn't make him go any easier on them, though. 

'Well,' he said suddenly, sitting forward. 'Quit being friendly with the enemy, guys,' he called to his teammates still enjoying story time with Shouyou. 'We've got a game to play. Probably won't take long for us to beat these invalids,' he said with a light shrug and a smirk on his face. Bokuto and Akaashi both grinned too, eager to see how Karasuno planned to beat anyone after falling so hard.

Daichi stood, laughing. 'You should know by now to never underestimate us.' 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *hisses at the cheesy and fairly sudden ending because I cannot do endings*  
> I was going to add an extra chapter but it was really depressing-sounding and well I wanted to leave it on a positive!  
>   
> To reiterate what I said in the earlier notes, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU.  
> I gave up writing fanfic a few years ago but then I came to this fandom, saw how lovely and creative everyone was, and decided I wanted to join in! So thank you so much, anyone who read and enjoyed this, for allowing me to get something massively positive out of this creation of mine! I really am very happy with what I wrote.  
> Seriously hoping you have enjoyed this. Thank you for reading!  
>   
>  _Plot twist: Ennoshita filmed it all and hopes to use it as reference for his next short film._


End file.
